Watermelon Cupcakes

In keeping with the summer theme I started Monday with the Pink Lemonade Cupcakes, today I'm going to share Watermelon Cupcakes!  Remember I said the other day that very few things say "summer" like lemonade?  Well, watermelon most definitely falls into that "very few things" category...wouldn't you say?

When I first made these cupcakes a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't sure they had quite the watermelon flavor that I was looking for.  I kind of toyed around with the idea of adding watermelon extract (which is expensive and hard to find, by the way), or maybe even adding some watermelon Kool-Aid mix.  Just to give it an extra punch of flavor.

However, when the Buttercream Dreams taste testers (aka: husband and children) gave their opinions, 3 out of 4 thought that they tasted just right.  Now, to be completely forthright, the fourth tester deemed them to be "a little bit of disgusting."  But, I will add that she also thought my chocolate cupcakes were "too chocolatey" (is that even possible?) and she dips her broccoli into ketsup.  I really didn't have any problem disregarding her opinion on the watermelon cupcake.  :)  So, the cake recipe remains as I found it here: From Apples 2 Zucchini.

The watermelon flavor is very mild and the cupcakes are moist.  Topped off with a sweet buttercream frosting with just a hint of watermelon flavor makes them perfect!  I also tossed a handful of mini-chocolate chips into the batter to look like seeds and sprinkled a few on top of the cupcakes.  I thought they turned out terribly cute.  If you love watermelon and all of it's summeriness (is that a word?), I really hope you will try these!  And if you decide to add some watermelon extract, you can find it here: where to order watermelon extract if you can't find it in a store.  :)

Watermelon Cupcakes
{makes about 12}

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup watermelon juice*

Directions:
1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.  Sift the the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Set aside.
2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add the egg and beat until incorporated.
3.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4.  Add the watermelon juice and mix until well incorporated.  At this point you could also add a drop or two of pink or red food coloring.
5.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a rack before frosting.

* I obtained my watermelon juice by cutting up a fresh watermelon and pureeing in my mixer.  Then I put the puree into a strainer to get the juice.

{source of cupcake recipe: From Apples 2 Zucchini

Watermelon Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 Tbsp watermelon juice

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.  Add the powdered sugar, about 1/2 cup at a time, and continue to beat until smooth.  Add the watermelon juice, one tablespoon at a time, and beat until reaching your desired consistancy.  If you need to , add a little bit of milk or heavy whipping cream.   Frost the cupcakes your favorite way!

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

There are few things that say "summer" like lemonade does.  It just sounds so cool and refreshing.  Especially this summer, when it seems like so many places around the country are just sweltering hot.  My kids love pink lemonade.  They would drink gallons of it a day if I would let them.  So, when my friend, Gina, mentioned to me that she had seen a recipe for pink lemonade cupcakes on Pinterest....well, you know I had to go check it out!

I actually went through several recipes on the internet and just couldn't find one that sounded like what I wanted to do.  Then finally, I found it.  On a previously unknown to me blog called Let Them Eat Cake.  I thought her recipe sounded great and the pictures looked so pretty.

The first time I attempted the recipe we had just returned home from a trip up to Pinetop, Arizona with the family.  The whole ride home I was going over in my head how awesome they were going to be.  Well, that wasn't to be the case.  They were tough and a little bit sticky.  The toughness due to over mixing probably, and the stickiness due a last minute decision to brush the tops of the cupcakes with some left over pink lemonade concentrate.  I thought it would amp up the flavor, but alas, it only made them sticky.  Oh, well...you never know until you try, right?!  But, I took them to potluck at church the next day, anyway!  And that night I tried it again!  (Those of you who know me best are thinking, "Yep.  That sounds about right.")

Second time around....much better!  Soft and moist, non-sticky cupcakes with a great pink lemonade flavor, and really yummy pink lemonade buttercream frosting.  So good.  So summery.  So necessary for you to make.  Soon.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
{makes about 24}

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
5 egg whites
3/4 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp buttermilk
lemon zest
Red or pink food coloring ( I used Americolor Electric Pink)

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line your cupcakes tins with paper liners.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until blended.  Set aside.
2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar, oil, egg whites, pink lemonade concentrate, lemon zest, and vanilla until well combined.
3. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.  Add about 1/2 of the buttermilk and mix until combined.
4.  Continue to alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk and mix until combined well.  Don't over mix (remember those tough cupcakes!).
5.  Add 1-2 drops of food coloring and mix.
6.  Fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 full of batter and bake for 15-18 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool in pans for about 5 minutes.  Remove from pans to completely cool on a rack before frosting.

Pink Lemonade Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter
4 cups powdered sugar
6T pink lemonade concentrate
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
red or pink food coloring

Directions

Beat the softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamy.  Add powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, and beat well, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.  Add vanilla and lemonade concentrate, mix combined.  Add 1-2 drops of food coloring and continue to beat until smooth.  Fill a pastry bag, fitted with your favorite decorating tip, and pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.  I also decorated my cupcakes with a piece of Sour Patch Watermelon candy  and a cute pink straw from Bake It Pretty!


{source of recipe Let Them Eat Cake}

We All Scream for Ice Cream...Cone Cupcakes!

Wow....is it really the second week of July already??  Where did the time go?  I had all of these plans to post tons of recipes over the summer, but sadly, I have posted not a one since May.  On the bright side, I have been having a great summer with my kiddos, family, and many of our great friends.  Much fun in the pool, up north, and cooking out.  Summer will be over all too soon.

I have been baking, though, and do have some fun, summery recipes to share.  I'm going to start with these adorable ice cream cones cupcakes because they are simple and cute.  And let's face it.   Who wouldn't love a cupcake, baked in a cone, and decorated to look like an ice cream cone....right?

First of all, I will confess that I used a boxed yellow cake mix to make the cupcakes.  I made these on a whim one day and decided to go the easy route.  Go ahead...judge me if you must.  :)  Second, don't underestimate how few "perfect" cones there are in a box of ice cream cones.  You may have to settle for only sort of broken.  I went through 2 boxes to get 12, of what I considered to be, acceptable cones.  In retrospect, I think I may have gone overboard.  Imagine.  However, you don't want them to have holes in them or to be too broken on the sides, as the batter will spill out and bake out of those holes and cracks.

Now, I have read a couple of blogs about making these cupcakes.  The primary complaint was the risk of them toppling over on the way to the oven, or in the oven.  There is even a pan made specifically for baking ice cream cone cupcakes to eliminate this problem!  Well, since I don't have one of those super special pans, I decided to just stand my batter filled cones up in my mini cupcake pans.  Genius!  I thought it worked great, but you still have to be careful.

After you have filled your cones with the batter of your choice, bake them as you normally would.  They will come out of the oven looking like this...

Fun, right?!  Now just frost them with your favorite frosting and decorate as desired.  I use vanilla butter cream piped on with the Wilton 1M tip.  Then I decorated them with sprinkles.  I was so pleased with the way they turned out!

These are really fun cupcakes to make.  My kids loved them.  I did find out, though, that they are definitely one of those make and eat in the same day cupcakes.  The cones don't hold up well if you try to store them. They absorb the moisture from the cake and wilt.  Found this out the hard way.

Oh, and one more tip....after you decorate them, they will be kinda top heavy.  Learned that the hard way, too.  :)