Blackberries

I bought some beautiful blackberries today from the market and I couldn't wait to take them home. I must admit that upon arrival at my apartment I proceeded to eat half a carton of them while standing in front of the open refrigerator. I was taken back to my hometown of Tallahassee walking through the woods around our house in High Grove picking wild blackberries and arguing with my older brother and sister about who's just had the sweetest one, or who's found and eaten the most.

I love things that take me back to being a child, especially when it had to do with my old home. Another fond memory was of swimming in the pool all day long on the 4th of July and eating watermelon just after my dad sliced it and spitting the seeds as far as I could and lighting sparklers once it was dark enough. I practically lived in my bathing suit as child and I really miss those carefree southern days in the sun.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

This past Saturday my friend Cassie and I decided to make a yummy and unique treat for a Stampin' Up! get together that I planned. After looking through a couple of cookbooks, such as Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book, and also a few blogs, we decided on these very pretty and somewhat simple Pink Lemonade cupcakes from the blog Cast Sugar. They turned out great, although I would recommend sticking to the recipe when it comes to the amount of lemonade concentrate you add to the buttercream frosting, we went a bit crazy and ours came out a tad too tart! But still very yummy!!

I hope you enjoy them. They were so pretty with the pink frosting and hot pink sugar.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

Pinch salt

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. vegetable oil

2 egg whites

1/3 c. thawed frozen Pink Lemonade Concentrate

1/4 c. buttermilk

2 or more drops red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with liners.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg whites and lemonade concentrate. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until just smooth. Add just enough food coloring to turn the batter a light shade of pink.

Scoop batter into liners (fill about three-fourths full). Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting (see below).

Lemonade Buttercream:

3 c. + 3 Tbsp. confectioner’s sugar

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

1/8 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. pink lemonade concentrate

Red food coloring

Add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt, lemon juice concentrate, and a few drops of food coloring to the stand mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment until combined. Turn the speed to med-high until the buttercream is fluffy and uniformly pink. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.