Pink Lemonade Cupcakes - and Gluten Free!

 I'm not one for Gluten Free recipes.  I know some who need them to maintain health, and I completely respect that.  I am just a gluten junkie, and don't normally look for specifically GF recipes.

However, when I saw a Pink Lemonade Cupcake recipe, I knew I had to try it.  Even if it used rice flour instead of the stuff that's 30x cheaper.

I'm willing to give anything a try.  Maybe I'll try to work with alternative flours more as a personal goal.  Maybe I'm just over thinking it.

Okay, I am over thinking it, but for those of you who need or want to maintain a gluten free lifestyle, kudos to you!  Even with stores having their own GF sections, the choices are so minimal that it amazes me you can maintain a state of healthy living.  I am in awe.

Regardless, here is the original recipe that I found.  It was kind of a pain in the butt to have two bowls going off simultaneously, but it is TOTALLY worth it.  The egg whites make the cake so fluffy.  I was completely in awe.

 I made the cupcakes over a series of three days.  Primarily because I had lots of food to prep, but also because I couldn't wait to get started.  I made the cupcakes on Tuesday, the garnish on Wednesday, then the frosting and assembly happened on Thursday.

When the cupcakes came out on Tuesday, I had some residents around the neighborhood sample them as is.  And, I must admit, I tried one as well.

It was like eating a lemony marshmallow.

Completely amazing.  You couldn't even tell that I had used rice flour once it had baked.  You could in the raw batter, but since no one is supposed to eat that anyway, there's no way to know.

For the garnish, we followed the recipe and candied the lemons.  We boiled them in sugar water until the rinds started to become translucent, then we cooled them, dipped them in sugar, and then dipped them in sugar again right before assembling the cupcakes.

The only thing that left me iffy on these was the frosting.  It tastes fabulous, but it's really thin.  I noticed the next day that the grocery store sells some pink lemonade frosting in your baking aisle, but I'm not sure that's the answer either.  I'll have to ponder it, but the maraschino cherry juice really did give the frosting a nice pop of color.

And out of  78 mini cupcakes, I only had 10 left at the end of the night.  Completely wonderful, all around, especially for those looking for a gluten free recipe!