I stumbled across Paula Deen’s pink lemonade layer cake recipe today and immediately had to try it. I made it in cupcake form (my standard MO for new cake recipes) and modified the frosting recipe a little, but I was really happy with how it turned out. The cupcakes had a subtle lemon flavor that wasn’t too sweet nor too tart. The frosting had a nice tangy pink lemonade taste (if you’re not one for lemon frosting, a standard buttercream would probably work really well with these too).
Ingredients
Cake
– 1 (18 1/4-ounce) box white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Supermoist White Cake Mix)
– 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
– 2 tsp vanilla extract
– 3 tbsp sweetened pink lemonade drink powder (I used Country Time Pink Lemonade Mix)
Frosting (where I started to change things)
– 1 cup butter, softened
– 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
– 1 tbsp of the Country Time mix
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 1 tsp of lemon juice
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan (I used a standard 12-well) with paper cupcake wrappers and spray with Pam for Baking.
Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions. Stir in the lemon zest, vanilla, and pink lemonade powder. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake cupcakes for ~20 minutes (or until golden) and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
While the cupcakes are baking, prepare the frosting. Beat together the confectioners’ sugar and remaining 1 cup butter until fluffy. Then beat in the remaining frosting ingredients.
Let cupcakes cool completely and then frost with a spatula.
Bon appetit!
coffee and debussy 