Bright, juicy raspberries and zesty lemon are the stars of these Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes! So fresh, fabulous, and easy!
So a couple of weeks ago, I was in a serious rut.
Normally, I cannot shut up the amount of ideas I have swirling in my head. I am bombarded day after day, sometimes minute after minute of recipe ideas that don’t stop swirling around like a tornado until I make them. Usually this is not a problem, unless I’m broke, or tired, or trying to do something else other than be hyper-focused on Reese’s peanut butter cups.
But I was at a complete stoplight a couple weeks back. I had NO idea what to make, and it was torture.
I mean, I am notorious for coming up with wacky-yet-delicious concoctions on the regular and suddenly my creativity was dry as a bone. What gives?
Thankfully, I have you guys as my resourceful friends to give me ideas, and I received an overwhelming response for raspberry-flavored goodies on Instagram. I happen to adore raspberries and think they’re perfect for spring and summer, so I was game to create something equally delicious and easy featuring this delectable little fruit.
Enter: these Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes! A moist, tender lemon-flavored cupcake topped with a juicy, super flavorful raspberry frosting. These are seriously incredible – the raspberry frosting is KILLER!
My secret for a true, intense, REAL raspberry frosting comes from my fave secret ingredient: freeze-dried raspberries! These are real raspberries that have been – you guessed it – freeze-dried for a wonderful crunch and a great on-the-go snack… but also as a marvelous, amply-flavored ingredient for flavoring cakes or frostings.
You simply pulverize the freeze-dried raspberries until they are a finely ground powder, then mix them into the frosting for a gorgeously colored and flavored frosting!
Combined with the bright and zesty lemon cake, this is a totally fabulous cupcake flavor combo!
Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Author: Hayley Parker, The Domestic Rebel
Recipe type: Cakes/Cupcakes
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 24
These Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes are super flavorful, bright and zesty with fresh flavor!
Ingredients
- FOR THE CAKE:
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- Zest of two medium lemons
- ½ cup oil
- 3 large eggs
- FOR THE FROSTING:
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- One 1-ounce package freeze-dried raspberries, finely ground into a powder
- ¼ cup heavy cream or milk
- 3 & ½ – 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- Fresh raspberries, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with 24 paper liners. Set aside.
- Combine the cake mix, buttermilk, lemon juice, lemon zest, oil, and eggs with an electric mixer until combined, 2 minutes. Portion the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling about ¾ full. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool completely.
- For the frosting: Combine the butter and vanilla extract together in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until fluffy, 2 minutes. Add in the freeze-dried raspberry powder and beat slow until incorporated. Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with the heavy cream until frosting is light and fluffy.
- Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. Garnish with a fresh raspberry, if desired.
3.5.3228
Fresh, easy, flavorful and fabulous! You’ll love these cupcakes!
Have a super sweet day!
xo, Hayley
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