Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

Lemon Cupcakes:
1 box white or lemon cake mix
4 egg whites
⅓ C. oil
¾ C. milk
⅓ C. plain yogurt
¼ C. lemon juice
2 T. lemon zest

Strawberry Buttercream:
1 C. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4–5 C. powdered sugar
2–4 T. strawberry puree
Straws for decoration

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line pans with cupcake liners.
2. Sift cake mix into a small bowl; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, oil, milk, yogurt, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth.
4. Add cake mix; stir to combine well.
5. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 17–22 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
6. For Strawberry Buttercream: Beat butter for 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract. Slowly add powdered sugar until buttercream is a consistency slightly thicker than desired. Slowly stir in strawberry puree (fresh strawberries that have been processed in a blender to soup-like consistency). Add only as much puree as needed to make buttercream the right consistency. If the buttercream becomes too thin, add more powdered sugar.
7. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and decorate with straws.

Makes 24 cupcakes.