TheHippyHomemaker

When I asked my friend Chelsea’s boyfriend what sort of things she was into, for the cupcakes, his only response was “pink”. I thought to myself, “That is such a guy response,” but I needed more. I wanted some kind of theme or flavor pallet to follow, so I checked out her Pinterest in hopes of finding inspiration. Lo and behold, there were all kinds of cute pink lemonade alcoholic beverages that sparked my interest and gave me this amazing idea! Who would have thought Pinterest would be so helpful? It usually just distracts me from writing and sucks away all of my time.

These cupcakes were absolutely amazing! I got a lot of compliments and we even gave some away to the waiters because they were eye-balling the yumminess at our tables! I had a ball telling people they were vegan AFTER they ate the cupcake! The surprise on their faces is always worth it to me!

VEGAN PINK LEMONADE CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES

INGREDIENTS

Pink Lemonade Champagne Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. corn starch
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon zest (roughly the zest of 3 large lemons)
1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup pink champagne (I used a pink moscato, that’s one of my favorites!)
4 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 tsp. pure strawberry extract

Pink Lemonade Champagne Buttercream Frosting
1/2 stick non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1/2 cup Earth Balance
5 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp. pink champagne
3 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
4 tsp. fresh lemon zest (roughly the zest of 1 large lemon)
1 tsp. pure strawberry extract

DIRECTIONS

Cupcakes
1)Pre-heat oven to 350F degrees. Line your pan with cupcake liners.
2)In a large mixing bowl mix together your dry ingredients; flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and fresh lemon zest.
3)In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and apple cider vinegar, then add the melted coconut oil. (Be aware that coconut oils solidifying point is like 76 degrees so you may want to warm you milk just to room temperature before you add the coconut oil so that it does not solidify. If it does, no worries, just heat the mixture up in a microwave for about 30 seconds, just until the coconut oil melts again.) Add the rest of your wet ingredients to the bowl and mix together; champagne, lemon juice, and strawberry extract.
4)Whisk your wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed together. Try not to over mix or your cupcakes might turn out a little bit denser.
5)Pour the cupcake batter into your cupcake liners until 3/4 full.
6)Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until you stick a toothpick in the middle of the cupcake and it comes out clean.
7)Let cool on a rack for one hour (or until completely cooled off) before frosting.

Frosting
1)In a medium mixing bowl beat vegetable shortening, Earth Balance, and fresh lemon zest together until smooth and creamy.
2)Beat in the champagne, lemon juice, and strawberry extract.
3)Beat in the powdered sugar and mix until completely smooth.
4)Add in food coloring to your desired color. (I used 5 drops of red to get the pink color that I was looking for)
5)Decorate cupcakes and add sprinkles! Eat and enjoy!!!!