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pinkalicious cupcakes
These cupcakes are to continue our review of the book Pinkalicious.
Be careful not to eat too many—you may just turn pink, too.
So if you haven’t already figured out, I’m pretty big into things being all natural. I suppose I don’t have enough money or enough time to fuss over whether things are organic usually, but I do put my foot down with things like flavoring, butter, unbleached flour, etc.
I put off making these cupcakes, actually, because I knew they had to be pink, and I didn’t want to use fake coloring. Furthermore, I knew the all natural coloring is really expensive, and I had this big debate over whether or not I should buy it.
As I prepared my ingredients, I thought, Oh whatever! I’ll just buy it already (it was $12.00 for just one little bottle of red!). I took it home, started making my cupcakes, added the all natural fancy coloring, and . . . it was brown. But not even a dark brown, and it didn’t even really color the batter (Thank goodness!). I even noticed later as I cleaned up, that it had turned green! It reminded me of an awful henna hair dye fiasco I had with my son when he wanted to be Harry Potter for Halloween, but that’s another story.
Needless to say, I broke down and used the artificial stuff. And I think we’ll all be okay.
pinkalicious cupcakes
1 1/2 cups (185g) unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon all natural strawberry flavoring or pure almond extract
1/4 cup (60g) sour cream
3/4 cups (170g) milk
4-5 tablespoons of your favorite strawberry jam
easy buttercream frosting (recipe follows)
white sprinkles
maraschino cherries
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees * (180 degrees Celsius). Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth, about a minute on medium speed. Add in sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes more. With mixer on medium-low, add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in vanilla and strawberry flavor or almond extract. Add in food coloring to achieve desired tint.
4. With mixer on low, add in a third of the flour mixer, followed by half of the milk and the sour cream. Add in the next third of flour, the remaining milk, and finally the remainder of the flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Use a rubber spatula to fully incorporate the mixture, being sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
5. With an ice cream scooper, divide up the batter evenly among the paper liners (I use a scoop that holds 1/3 cup, which works perfectly). Tap pans on the counter to remove any bubbles.
6. Bake at 350 (180 degrees celsius), or until a toothpick inserted into the center ones comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pans for at least ten minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before decorating.
7. Use a melon baller to scoop out a small hole in the center of each cupcake. Spoon a small amount of strawberry jam into each hole.
8. Use three fourths of the pink buttercream frosting to ice the top of each cupcake. Add a few more drops of the food coloring to the remaining frosting and place in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip. Set aside.
9. Pour white sprinkles onto a plate and dip the center of each cupcake into the sprinkles. Top with a cherry, and use the frosting in the pastry bag to create a decorative swag all around the cupcake. Serve (or freeze).
easy buttercream
1 1/2 sticks (175g) unsalted butter
4 cups (1 pound or 450g) confectioner’s sugar
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon all natural strawberry flavoring or pure almond extract
red or pink food coloring
1. Put all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer, and mix, starting slowly and then increasing the speed, until frosting is smooth and creamy.
2. Add in food coloring as desired
27 Responses to “pinkalicious cupcakes”
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They are so pretty!
Brown then green?? Haha it’s like the batter of many colors
LOOOVE the final pink product!! So darling.
So precious!!!!! My kind of pink cupcake for sure!
Lovely decorating! I love the idea of the strawberry and almond flavors too.
They look just like the book:) They look and sound delicious!
They’re so cute! Sophie looks happy!
Oh yum!!! My girls are excited about these! It is nice to know about not bothering to get the natural coloring
How cute would these be for a princess birthday party? Thanks for sharing your talents Jaime!
[...] And click here to make your own pinkalicious cupcakes! [...]
Your pretty pink cupcakes can’t fail to cheer up the day – and they look delicious!
well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do for some pretty pink cupcakes. i’m just sorry you wasted $12!
My daughter’s 2nd birthday is coming up in December and these cupcakes look perfect for her party!
[...] came up with this recipe right after making the pinkalicious cupcakes because I wanted something green afterward (when you read the story, you’ll understand why). [...]
I wonder how beet juice would work. I love the color of water after boiling beets. Just made a beautiful beet borscht the other day. We should try it.
Hey take that food coloring back and let the store know they shouldn’t carry crap like that. If you don’t give it to me and I will.
I want my $2.00 (12.00 actually).
All your recipes are wonderful (th pics are yummy)…And the directions are very understandable. Love the fact you give reason why not to do or to do certain things. Have you been to the new cup cake shop by the Imax theater? Might be another source of inspiration for you! Try the strawberry cupcakes…real strawberries in the icing! Then I can find out how to make those!!!
Hi Jaime
What brand of the 1/3 cup ice cream scoop did you and where did you purchase it from.
I don’t know where I got my ice cream scoop, actually. Norpro carries a lot of great stainless steel ice cream scoops. On amazon, I found their 4 tablespoon size, but nothing bigger.
I made these with my four year old and they turned out great! I love how easy the recipe is and the strawberry jam gives it that extra yumminess
We made some great memories making them. Thank you!
Instead of strawberry jam I might use chocolate and put same chocolate chips in my cherries. nice touch with the holes in the middle.
Great idea, Nicole.
Just made these.. they are delicious and beautiful.. thanks for a wonderful recipe..
I made them with almond extract..looked everywhere for the all natural strawberry flavoring couldnt find it.. where do you suggest.. would the taste be a lot different then with the almond?
thanks. beautiful family btw…
Oh, I’m so glad you liked them! I admit, strawberry flavoring is a little hard to find. I got mine at a local health food store.
The almond extract and the strawberry flavoring would taste pretty different, but I suggested the almond flavoring for people who couldn’t find the strawberry. I figured the flavor of the almond extract would go well with the maraschino cherries on top. Great question. Thanks, Dee!
I still say a kitchen is the most important “room” in your home!
I love your blog going to try the red velvet cake. For Pink cupcakes I use the sprinkles strawberry cupcakes recipe. They are pink, yumy and color free http://www.oprah.com/food/Sprinkles-Cupcakes-Strawberry-Cupcakes-Recipe
That’s great, Gypc!
Have you tried pureed strawberries for the pink color?
Lynda—No, I haven’t. But that’s a great idea. Thank you! I may just try it next time.