Baking Mondays - ICE Entry: Soda Pop - Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

The magic ingredient in this month's Iron Cupcake Earth contest is soda pop or as we like to call it here in Australia - soft drink! My immediate thought was my favourite drink - a fire truck (lemonade and raspberry cordial)! So I made lemonade cupcakes with fresh raspberries in the middle of them then topped it with raspberry swiss meringue buttercream and then a dollop of lemon swiss meringue buttercream and a raspberry lolly. The result a very moist and tangy cupcake with a lovely sweet frosting. Here is one of the fire truck marvels:

The ratings?

Me - 7/10, loved the frosting combination - the lemon was awesome! The cake was very moist and extremely tangy - maybe a little too tangy.

Mat - 5/10, not a raspberry fan :P

And now the recipes...

Lemonade Raspberry Cupcakes
Makes 12

1/2 cup butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup lemonade
zest and juice of one lemon
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
24 fresh raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcake liners.
   
2. Beat butter until fluffy.
   
3. Add the sugar and lemon zest and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl in between additions.
5. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to the butter mixture and stir until combined.
6. Add the lemonade and lemon juice, and mix to combine.
7. Scoop mix into cupcake liners to two-thirds full. Inserting 2 fresh raspberries in each cupcake.
   
8. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

4 egg whites
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
250g unsalted butter

1. Combine the egg whites and sugar into a heatproof bowl and whisk over a saucepan of simmering water until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is as hot as you can get it without the egg whites cooking.
2. With the whisk attachment on your mixer whisk the egg white and sugar mixture on high speed until a stiff meringue is formed and the mix has cooled down to room temperature.
3. Now put the paddle attachment on your mixer and with the mixer on a low speed add a tablespoon or two of butter at a time. Once all the butter is incorporated turn the mixer up to medium speed and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy again.
4. Divide the SMBC into two bowls.
5. To make the raspberry swiss meringue buttercream add raspberry jam and a little red food colouring until you get the desired colour and flavour. Mix on medium speed until you get a good piping texture.
   
6. To make the lemon swiss meringue buttercream add lemon juice and a little yellow food colouring until you get the descired colour and flavour. Mix on medium speed until you get a good piping texture.
   

And this month we are competing for the following prizes:

• A creation by FRUITFLYPIE, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=16748
• a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
• a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery, http://www.acupcakery.com/
  
• PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

Voting will begin no later than Wednesday, April 29 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, http://www.ironcupcakemilwaukee.com and will be open through Monday, May 4 at 12 noon. But I will remind you of that later :).

Check out Iron Cupcake Earth at http://www.ironcupcakeearth.com to become a part of the excitement!!