strawberry lemonade cupcakes (gluten-free)

All you ready need for strawberry lemonade cupcakes are some strawberries...

and lemons...

...oh, and maybe some cupcakes.

And frosting, of course.

What is summer? Summer is laying out in your swimsuit, running through the sprinklers, eating a drippy popsicle, wearing no shoes outside, and riding your bicycle in the warm evening air...

These cupcakes are the epitome of summer. They are sweet, tangy, fresh, light, and fun.

If you are feeling sad, eat one of these cupcakes, and I promise you that your day will seem brighter and happier.

I pinky swear.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes 

gluten-free

can be dairy-free

1 cup sugar

6 Tbl. butter (for dairy free, use coconut oil or Earth Balance)

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix (1/2 cup brown rice sugar, 1/2 cup white rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch)

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup milk (for extra lemon flavor: 1/8 cup fresh lemon juice + 1/4 and 1/8 cup milk; for dairy free, use almond milk)

grated zest of 2 lemons

2 dashes of xanthan gum

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter (or coconut oil/Earth Balance) and sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs. Add vanilla. 
3. In a bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients by increments. Stir in milk. Add in lemon zest. Stir well. At last, stir in xanthan gum. 
4. Pour batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 15-20 minutes. (Make sure to keep an eye on them.) Cupcakes will be done when they turn a light golden color. Insert a toothpick into the center cupcake; if it comes out clean, then the cupcakes are done. 
5. Cool cupcakes for a few minutes and then remove them from the cupcake pan and allow them to cool on a wire rack. 
6. When they are completely cool, go ahead and frost them with my Strawberry Lemonade Frosting (see below).

Strawberry Lemonade Frosting

1/2 cup butter (for dairy free, use Earth Balance)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

3-4 strawberries

2 Tbl. frozen lemonade concentrate, at room temperature (or 2 Tbl. milk  *see alteration below)

1. Before you start making the frosting, chop up the strawberries. (You can also puree them in a food processor, which I did--and I recommend it).
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter (or Earth Balance) until it is smooth. Add the powdered sugar, in increments. Add in salt and vanilla. 
3. Stir in the chopped (or pureed) strawberries.
4. Stir in the lemonade concentrate. At this point, you will want to whip the frosting very quickly, until it looks light and fluffy.
5. Cool frosting for a few minutes in the fridge, give it a good stir, and then frost your cupcakes!

*The citrus in the lemonade concentrate may cause the frosting to curdle a little, so you can choose to replace the lemonade concentrate with milk. To add in lemon flavor to the frosting (with added milk), you can simply garnish the frosted cupcakes with lemon zest or you can brush the top of the cupcakes with lemonade concentrate before frosting them. Personally, I think the frosting is perfect with the lemonade concentrate added in. If you look at the picture below, you will see that the frosting looks normal (and it tastes amazing). In my opinion, the added lemonade concentrate makes the frosting what it is. (Note: the pictures above and the one below were made with two different frosting recipes. Obviously, my first frosting recipe from the cupcakes pictured above didn't turn out as well as this one...)

click here to see my original strawberry lemonade cupcakes.

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Cupcakes are my latest obsession. Cute. Petite. Delicious. Where can you go wrong? Plus with summer in bloom all I can think of are things to cool you down: popsicles, ice cream, snow-cones, lemonade. And who doesn't love strawberry lemonade? These cupcakes have the perfect lemon punch and the strawberry lemonade frosting is so satisfying that it's almost scary. I will have you know that my nieces and nephews were licking the frosting from the cupcakes and even sneaking it out of the bowl. My nephews Taylor and Austin asked me when I was going to make these cupcakes next, and cute little Austin asked me for my recipe! I was flattered.

Ring a round the rosie...

Photo courtesy of my nephew Taylor.

Cuppy cakey.

My niece Addie with her daddy (my brother) Ira.

Lemonade Cupcakes

[makes 12 cupcakes]

1 cup sugar

6 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup milk 

grated zest of two lemons

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream butter, sugar, and eggs together until fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon zest.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Add the milk and lemon juice. Once mixed, add remaining dry ingredients.
4. Pour into cupcake tins and bake for 20-25 min at 350. Let cool, then frost.

Strawberry and Lemon Buttercream

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

3 cups of powdered sugar + 1 cup extra

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 -1/2 cup chopped strawberries

grated zest of two lemons

1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. Add in 3 cups powdered sugar slowly with the mixer on low, increasing to combine. Add in vanilla extract. Add in the strawberries, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix in the additional cup of powdered sugar. (You may need to add even more). 
2. For the best consistency, place the frosting in the freezer for 10 minutes. Frost the cupcakes either by dunking them or use a knife to spread the frosting.
3. Lick the knife clean :)
4. Garnish with slices of strawberry and lemon.