Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In your mixer using the whisk attachment, combine your lemon cake mix, additional ingredients listed on the box, and 4 Tbsp of lemonade mix. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes until all ingredients are incorporated.

In a small side bowl, toss diced strawberries with the 1/8th cup of flour. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom while baking. Set aside.

Place 24 cupcake wrappers in 2 cupcake tins and spray with cooking spray to prevent any sticking. Fill cupcake wrapper halfway with batter. Then place a teaspoon of strawberries on top of batter. Then cover the strawberries with more batter until each cup is filled ¾ of the way. Complete this with remaining batter and strawberries until both are gone. Bake as per instructions on box until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

In a clean mixing bowl, add heavy whipping cream and lemonade mix. Mix using whip attachment until stiff peaks form.

While cream is whipping, place 3 large strawberries in a small food processor and process until completely pureed. Pour mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove all seeds. Set remaining sauce aside.

Once whipped cream is done, remove 1/4 of it and place in its own medium size bowl. Taking this smaller batch, pour strawberry sauce into it, as well as 4–6 drops of red food coloring. Fold to combine. Feel free to add more coloring if you would like a richer color.

In the larger batch of whipped cream, add 4–6 drops of yellow food coloring and fold to combine.

Fill one small pastry bag with strawberry whipped cream and fill another small pastry bag with lemonade whipped cream. Cut holes in both bags and place them inside a larger pastry bag with the desired tip. This will create a two-toned effect. Pipe the icing on all cupcakes.

Alternating every other cupcake, garnish with lemon slice or halved strawberry and paper straw. Enjoy!