One of my favorite books to read when I was little was Making New Friends. It was about a little chipmunk named Chippy who never wanted to leave his Mom. One day, his Mom had to go help his Grandma and Chippy had to stay with the neighbors. At the end of the book, Chippy learns that he likes his new friends and he had a nice time while his Mom went away. All the little chipmunks sit down to a beautiful table of food which includes the most perfect little cupcakes with raspberries on top. These cupcakes always remind me of that book and my Mom reading it to me over and over. I can still hear her voice in my head when I read it today. I usually make these cupcakes at Easter and Mother’s Day because they are just as pretty as they are delicious. My boys say they taste like sour patch kids because they are a little bit on the tart side and sprinkled with sugar. They’re super cute and yummy.
Ingredients:
•Your favorite vanilla cupcake mix and called for ingredients
•6 cups powdered sugar
•1 stick of butter
•Vanilla extract
•Milk or half and half
•Crystal light raspberry lemonade mix
•Fresh raspberries
•Sugar sprinkles or cane sugar
•Zest of two lemons
Cupcake Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Wash and dry raspberries on a paper towel (You’ll need one for each cupcake)
- Mix up your favorite vanilla cake mix and add the zest of two lemons.
- Using a small ice scream scoop, scoop out mini cupcakes into a tray lined with papers and bake for 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- When done, place them on a tray or cake plate to cool.
Frosting Directions:
- Soften butter and mix with a hand mixer in a large bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 1 packet of lemonade mix.
- Alternate 1 tablespoon milk or half and half and one cup of powdered sugar, repeating six times.
- Mix well on high until light and fluffy
- If your frosting is too thick to pipe, add a little more milk. If you want it to be a bit more tart, add a little more lemonade mix.
- Place a frosting bag with flower tip in a cup and fill up your frosting bag with frosting.
- Pipe a swirl of frosting on each cupcake.
- Top with a raspberry and a sprinkle of sugar!
