Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

We're having such gorgeous weather this week!  I absolutely love summer and all that comes with it!  One of my favorite simple summer drinks is raspberry lemonade.  It's super-refreshing and makes me think of picnics and lazy days in the sun.  I thought I'd re-create this favorite of mine in cupcake form with a raspberry lemonade cupcake!

I started with a simple lemon cake recipe for my cupcakes, then piped in some raspberry filling.  I used my favorite buttercream frosting recipe, and simply added some more of that yummy filling to the frosting for some extra raspberry goodness.

Lemon Cupcakes (recipe compliments of allrecipes.com)
3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs, room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1 cup whole milk, divided
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice, divided

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line 30 cupcake pan cups with paper liners.

Sift the self-rising flour and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the unsalted butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating each egg until incorporated before adding the next. Mix in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Gently beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, one third at a time, alternating with half the milk and half the lemon juice after each of the first 2 additions of flour. Beat until just combined; do not over mix.

Fill the prepared cupcake liners with batter 3/4 full, and bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before removing them to finish cooling on a rack.

I added some yummy raspberry pastry filling that I picked up from my favorite baking supply shop **shout out to Vanilla Bean in Madison, Wisconsin**

Next, I made the raspberry buttercream frosting by simply adding some of that filling to my favorite buttercream recipe

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1Tbsp milk
2-3 Tbsp raspberry pastry filling
4 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter, add vanilla and raspberry filling.  Gradually add sugar one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed.  Add milk & beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

I topped my cupcakes with a bit of lemon zest.  YUM!