Strawberry-Lemonade Angel Cakes

It’s because of all this… past, that I decided to make shirley temple cupcakes for Becky. Because we were already close when we were young enough to get excited about ordering shirley temples out at dinner. And I seem to have a very vague memory of some chicken fingers and shirley temples and something that felt unbearably funny late at night during a jump rope trip. And they are just innocent and sweet and their appeal is enduring, and it seemed appropriate. The cupcakes have a grenadine based cake batter topped with a lemon-lime cream cheese frosting. They came out well – a lovely color, fluffy texture that reminded me of the box mix texture that can be hard to achieve from scratch, very sweet, and a simple flavor.

Shirley Temple Cupcakes

Makes 15

• 1/2 c. lemon-lime soda
• 1/2 c. grenadine
• 1 tsp vinegar (cider, white wine, or white will all work)
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. canola oil
• 1 1/3 c. flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 oz. neufchatel cheese, room temperature
• 3 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 3 c. powdered sugar
• 15 maraschino cherries with stems

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together soda, grenadine, and vinegar.  Let stand for a few minutes, then add sugar and canola oil and whisk until frothy.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and stir to combine.
4. Add flour mixture to liquid.  Stir together just to combine fully; do not overmix.  Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling half way (they will rise a lot).  Bake for 17 minutes.  Let cool completely.
5. In a medium bowl, beat cheese until smooth.  Add lemon and lime juices (a small amount of lemon and lime extracts might work better here, but I couldn’t find them in my local grocery store) and beat to combine.  Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating to incorporate fully.  Continue adding powdered sugar until taste and consistency are as desired – you may need more or less than 3 cups of sugar, and you may need to add more lemon or lime juice to achieve the desired flavor.  Refrigerate the finished frosting for half an hour.
6. Frost the cooled cupcakes.  Top with a maraschino cherry.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I made Phoebe lemon-based angel food cupcakes because she loves them.  This version of the recipe was super good, at least in my opinion.  The cake had a true lemonade tang and the fresh strawberries really shone through in the frosting.  They were zippy.  I could eat a lot of them.

Strawberry-Lemonade Angel Cakes

Makes 12.

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. cake flour
• 5 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 tsp lemonade mix powder
• 4 oz. neufchatel cheese, room temperature
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 5-8 fresh strawberries, diced
• 3 c. powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a small bowl, sift together 1/4 c. sugar with cake flour.  Set aside.
3. Beat egg whites until they begin to foam.  Add cream of tartar and continue beating until they are white and fairly fluffy.  Add salt, incorporate.  While continuing to beat egg whites vigorously, slowly add remaining 1/2 c. of sugar in a slow stream.  Beat until egg whites form soft peaks.
4. Fold flour mixture into egg whites, mixing just to incorporate flour fully.  Add lemonade powder (I used 2 packets of crystal light to go) and fold in.
5. Spoon batter into cupcake liners, filling 3/4 of the way.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.
6. In a medium bowl, beat neufchatel cheese until smooth.  Add lemon juice and strawberries and stir to incorporate.  Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.  You may need more or less than 3 cups of sugar.