Pink Strawberry lemonade cupcakes are a delightful and refreshing twist on traditional cupcakes. These scrumptious strawberry lemonade cupcakes combine the tangy and sweet flavors of fresh strawberries with a zesty lemonade kick, making for a deliciously unique flavor combination. Homemade Strawberry cupcakes topped with pink lemonade buttercream make for the perfect flavor combination!
Strawberry cupcakes topped with a creamy pink lemonade buttercream frosting, these cupcakes are perfect for spring and summer celebrations. They are sure to impress anyone who takes a bite. Whether you’re hosting a party, bringing a dessert to a potluck, or just craving a sweet treat, pink lemonade cupcakes are a must-try.
Pink Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes Recipe
To my kids, there is nothing better than sitting outside with a big glass of pink lemonade and getting to play with their puffy chalk paint. For me, I love to sit on the bench with my glass of pink lemonade and just enjoy watching them enjoy being kids. They are only little for so long, so I love being able to soak in watching them enjoy life.
If you have been hanging out here around the blog for a while, you know that making fun and tasty cupcakes is one of my favorite things. I find a lot of cupcake inspiration from the things that I already love. Pink lemonade was my inspiration for this super fun, Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes recipe! If you want to go with what my daughter calls them, just call them Strawberry Pink Lemonade cupcakes.
I brought these pink lemonade cupcakes to a friend’s house for our outdoor summer day last year and they were a HUGE hit. In fact, they were such a hit my friend’s husband had her send me a message to see if I was hiding anymore at my house! I just know that you and your family are going to love these tangy strawberry lemonade cupcakes just as much as we do!
These moist cupcakes have the perfect balance of sweet and tangy with the combination of homemade strawberry cupcakes and homemade pink lemonade buttercream frosting.
Easy Summer Desserts
- Strawberry Blueberry trifle
- Fruit Lasagna Frozen Ice Box Cake
- Apple Nachos
- Frozen Yogurt Covered Banana Pops
- Easy Ice Cream Cake
- Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas
- Oreo Milkshake
What is a Strawberry Lemonade cupcake?
Cupcakes are individual cakes meant to serve one person, that are baked in muffin tins, in paper liners or reusable liners and typically topped with frosting. This cupcakes recipe has strawberry homemade cupcakes that are topped with a pink lemonade buttercream frosting that
Tips for Baking Cupcakes
Follow the recipe. Each cupcake recipe is different. It is important to follow the recipe as directed. all of our cupcake recipes have been tested multiple times to make sure they are perfect.
Bring ingredients to room temperature. Cupcakes will bake best when they are made with room temperature ingredients.
Do not over mix. Over mixing the batter will lead to having tough and flat cupcakes. When making cupcakes you have to be careful that you don’t over mix the batter when you are folding in the flour mixture. If you over-mix your cupcake batter your cupcakes will turn out flat. You want to mix everything just until mixed, over mixing will cause you to have rough and tough cupcakes. We all know that the best cupcake are light and fluffy.
Fill the cupcake liners appropriately. You do not want to over fill the cupcake liners. Follow the directions for the specific cupcake recipe, if the recipe doesn’t tell you how full stick to the 2/3 full rule. Which is roughly 3 tablespoons of cupcake batter per cupcake liner.
Use the best kitchen tool for filling liners. If you are working with a thick cupcake batter then you want to use a spoon or a cookie scoop to fill the cupcake liners. If it is a thin cupcake batter then use a bowl with a spout or a glass measuring cup to pour in the batter.
Use quality cupcake liners. While you might not think it matters a cupcake liner but having a quality cupcake liner will make it so your cupcakes don’t stick to the wrapper and peel off nicely so you can see the perfect cupcake in it.
Bake one tray at a time. Using the center of the oven rack and bake one tray of cupcakes at a time. This will give you the best cupcake results.
How do Make the Strawberry Cupcakes pink?
If you are wanting to have bright pink cupcakes then you will want to add a few drops of red food coloring to the batter. You only need a few drops of food coloring to get a nice pink color. I personally don’t like to add food coloring and there is a great strawberry flavor in these cupcakes while not being bright in color.
Tips for Making Buttercream Frosting
- Use room-temperature butter. Let the butter sit at room temperature for about an hour before making the frosting. This will ensure that the butter is soft enough to whip into a smooth and creamy consistency. You will also want to use unsalted butter when making this frosting.
- Use the whisk attachment or paddle attachment. Using the whisk attachment or paddle attachment when whipping the frosting will give you a fluffier frosting.
- Scrape the sides of the bowl. When you are making the frosting, if you see it getting to far up the sides of the mixing bowl, use a rubber spatula to scrape it down to the bottom of the bowl.
Tips for Decorating these cupcakes
- Allow cupcakes to cool completely. Before frosting the cupcakes let them cool completely. If you frost cupcakes while they are still warm then the frosting will melt. I find it best to cool cupcakes on a wire rack.
- Make the frosting the day before. Make your lemonade frosting the day before you are planning to make these cupcakes to make the frosting smoother. It will have some grainy texture if you use it the same day you make it.
- Add fun decorations. I like to add real lemon wedges or a lemon slice or candy lemon slices on top of each cupcake and then small short paper straws so that it looks like a glass of lemonade in the frosting. You can also add a little bit of lemon zest on top of the frosting if you want to.
- Add Sprinkles. I like using the yellow sanding sugar or pink sanding sugar on top of the frosting for some extra fun.
- Make an icing swirl. If you have always wanted to make an icing swirl so you have pretty cupcakes, check out this step by step guide on how to make an icing swirl. It really changes the look of your cupcakes!
- Swirl frosting on top of cupcakes. If you are using different flavored frostings and want them both on top of your cupcake swirled together, check out how to swirl two icing flavors. If you want to layer your frosting flavors, check out the layered frosting swirl!
- Use a frosting bag. Piping frosting on cupcakes is easy, the hardest part is filling a pastry bag with the frosting and not making a mess. Check out this post for the easy way to fill a pastry bag with frosting.
How do I thicken a thin buttercream frosting?
There are 2 ways to make your frosting thicker if you need to.
- Add more powdered sugar. The most common way to thicken buttercream frosting is by adding more powdered sugar. Start with a small amount, such as a quarter cup, and mix it into the frosting until it is fully incorporated. Continue adding powdered sugar a little at a time until the frosting reaches the desired consistency.
- Chill the frosting. If your buttercream is too soft, you can try chilling it in the refrigerator for a few minutes. This will help the butter to firm up and the frosting to thicken.
How to thin out buttercream if it is too thick
If you find that your buttercream frosting is too thick you can easily thin it out. To thin out, the buttercream add a small amount of liquid and mix until the frosting has reached your desired consistency. I start by adding a tablespoon at a time. For this buttercream frosting, you can use hot water or heavy cream. You can also continue to whip the frosting. Whipping the frosting for a few minutes extra will add air to the frosting and will make it lighter and fluffier which can help thin it out.
How do you soften refrigerated buttercream frosting?
When you bring it out of the refrigerator let it sit at room temperature for two hours. Then re-whip it for ten minutes to bring it back to life.
Do I have to have a stand mixer?
I prefer using a stand mixer and I love my KitchenAid mixer. However, if you don’t have a stand mixer and only have a hand electric mixer you can make this recipe still. You will want to use an electric mixer and a large mixing bowl instead of the stand mixer.
How to tell when cupcakes are done baking
I like to use the toothpick test when I am making cupcakes with the kids because it is easier for them to see and learn. But if you have been making cupcakes for a while you may not want to use that method. If you are wanting an even easier method, the cupcake bounce method as we call it is even easier. Pull the tray of cupcakes out from the oven and lightly press on a cupcake in the middle of the baking pan. If it bounces right back and no fingerprint is left behind then your cupcakes are done. If there is a fingerprint you need to bake them for a few more minutes.
How to Store Cupcakes
It is best to store cupcakes in an airtight container on the counter. Cupcakes are best to be enjoyed with in 48 hours of making them. They won’t be bad to eat after 40 hours but they will start to dry out and not be as fresh. After frosting cupcakes you are ok to store them on the counter for a day or 2 but after that, they should be stored in the fridge. If you are storing them unfrosted you can store them in an airtight container or a plastic bag. If you are storing them with frosting on top I suggest using a cupcake storage container.
Pink Lemonade Buttercream Ingredients
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 pounds confectioners sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons hot water
- 3/4 cup pink lemonade powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Strawberry Cupcake Ingredients
- 10 large strawberries
- 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
How to make Pink Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake pans with your choice of cupcake wrappers.
Wash the strawberries and then remove the stem and leaves from each whole strawberry. Place them into a blender or food processor. Pulse them until you have pureed strawberries. Measure out 1/3 cup of the strawberry puree for the cupcakes and save any extra puree for another recipe.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer, the self-rising flour, cake flour, and sugar. On low speed, mix them together for a minute or two until they are well combined.
Cut the butter into tablespoon pieces. Turn the mixer to medium speed and slowly add the pieces of butter into the flour mixture one piece at a time and continue mixing until you have reached the texture of sand.
Pour half of the milk into the flour mixture and mix just until the milk is incorporated. Use your rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of your bowl. Add the remaining milk, strawberry puree, and vanilla extract to the batter and mix until combined.
Slowly add in one egg at a time to the cake batter, making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next egg.
Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling them 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven then rotate the cake pans so the pan that was on the top rack is now on the bottom and the pan that was on the bottom is now on the top rack.
Continue to bake for another 10-13 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cupcake.
Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack until they have reached room temperature.
While the cupcakes are cooling make the pink lemonade frosting.
How to Make the Pink Lemonade Buttercream Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter and the shortening.
Mix on medium speed until they are creamed together and get creamy and fluffy.
Turn the mixer speed to the lowest setting and slowly as in the powdered sugar.
Once you have added in all of the sugar, keep the mixer going and add in the pink lemonade powder, hot water and vanilla extract.
Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and continue mixing for 10 minutes until light and fluffy.
How to assemble the cupcakes
Once the cupcakes are cool, fill your frosting piping bag with frosting, and frost each cupcake.
Place the piping tip into your pastry bag and then fill the bag with your pink lemonade buttercream. Swirl the buttercream onto each cupcake.
Easy Cupcake Recipes
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Pink Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
Pink Lemonade Buttercream Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup shortening
- 2 pounds confectioners sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons hot water
- 3/4 cup pink lemonade powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Strawberry Cupcake Ingredients
- 10 large strawberries
- 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
Instructions
Strawberry lemonade Buttercream directions
- Mix butter and shortening on medium speed until they are nice and creamy.
- Turn the mixer down to the lowest setting and slowly incorporate the powdered sugar into the shortening mixture.
- Once you have added all the sugar to the mix pour in the hot water, pink lemonade powder, and the vanilla.
- Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and continue mixing for 10 minutes until light and fluffy.
Strawberry Cupcake Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your cupcake pans with your choose of cupcake wrappers.
- Remove the stems from the strawberries and place them into a blender or food processor. Pulse them until all of the strawberry pieces have been pureed. Measure out 1/3 cup of the strawberry puree for the cupcakes and you may save any extra puree for another recipe.
- Place your self-rising flour, cake flour, and sugar in the bowl of your mixer. Mix them together for a minute or two until they are well combined.
- Cut your butter into tablespoon pieces. Slowly add your butter into the flour mixture one piece at a time continue mixing until you have reached the texture of sand.
- Pour half of your milk into the flour mixture and mix just until the milk is incorporated. Use your rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of your bowl. Add your remaining milk strawberry puree and the vanilla to your batter and mix until combined.
- Slowly add in one egg at a time to the cake batter, making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next egg.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared cupcake pan, filling them 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the cake pans so the pan that was on the top rack is now on the bottom and the pan that was on the bottom is now on the top rack. Continue to bake for another 10-13 minute until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cupcake.
- Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack until they have reached room temperature.
How to Make Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes
- Once cupcakes are cool, fill your frosting piping bag with frosting, and frost each cupcake.
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