cupcakes and lemonade

at work, we decided to have a food day where everyone brings in goodies to munch on while we work for easter. i, of course, volunteered to bring in cupcakes. i swear i am still trying to use up those boxes of cake mix. i had a couple of boxes of lemon cake mix and figured they sounded relatively springy for the occasion. while i was doing the last minute easter meal shopping, i came across these easter cupcake liners

at shopper's already marked down to 50% off and knew i was set to make my cupcakes. really, aren't those adorable liners? when i baked the cupcakes, i was a little underwhelmed though by the lemony flavor of the cake mix. so, i decided to spice things up by using two different frostings for the cupcakes. the first frosting i used was a basic vanilla frosting i tinted pink with a couple of drops of red food coloring much like i did for valentine's day. i used less food coloring this time though as a i wanted them to be a lighter pink to match the yellow of the cake. the second frosting is where the lemonade part of the title comes in. i wanted to do something to compliment the lemon cupcakes. so, i got the idea to use lemonade drink mix like the kind from kool aid. you know the kind you have to add sugar to, but i didn't to add since frosting already has so much sugar in it. so, here's my super simple recipe for lemonade frosting which i am now totally addicted to.

lemonade frosting:

• enough of your basic frosting recipe vanilla or merely sugar flavored to frost an entire cake or 24 cupcakes
• one pack of lemonade drink mix

mix thoroughly. this works best if you have time to allow it to set overnight so that the the color can fully bloom giving it a subtly yellow color.

i used pastel chips for added spring flair.

i alternated them just for effect.