Cherry Limeade Cupcakes

 

Make these Cherry Limeade Cupcakes with your kids and let them decorate with you to make delicious &  fun holiday memories!

One of my favorite things to do during the holidays is bake and make memories with my kiddos  in the kitchen. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the busyness of the season… I always try to slow down and enjoy those special moments with my little ones.

Why cupcakes? Well, I know pies seems to be the dessert of choice for most adults but the kids in our family much prefer bright and happy cupcakes!

That's why I decided to make Cherry Limeade Cupcakes for our most recent family get-together and I let the kids help decorate! They had a blast and the cupcakes were delicious!

I really wanted these cupcakes to be bright, fun, and a little Christmas-y... and what's more bright and fun than lime green and bright red cherries, right? 🙂

Let's talk about the cupcakes. I wanted to try something new and I wanted them to be festive, so I made my very first batch of cherry-flavored cupcakes - Cherry 7UP® flavored to be specific!

We picked up a 12-pack on a recent trip to Target. You should actually be able to find every ingredient you'll need for these cupcakes at Target! Plus if you're grabbing any varieties of 7UP® for the cupcakes or any other holiday entertaining, you can snag these Ibotta offers:  save $.75 when you buy two 2-liter bottles (varieties include: 7UP®, A&W®, Canada Dry® Ginger Ale, RC® Cola, Sundrop®, Sunkist® Orange, Squirt®, Country Time®, Diet Rite®, Vernors®, Cactus Cooler® and Hawaiian Punch®)

I should mention, you won't need a whole 12-pack of Cherry 7UP® for the cupcakes, but we sure had fun drinking the extras while playing in the kitchen and decorating the cupcakes!

I'm getting ahead of myself though...  First, I baked,  then I called the kids into the kitchen for the really fun stuff!

Here's what you'll need for the Cherry Limeade Cupcakes (aka Cherry 7UP® Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream):

For the Cake:

• 1 box white cake mix, 15.25 oz.
• 3 whole eggs
• ¼ cup oil
• 1 (10. oz) jar of Maraschino Cherries (you'll need ¼ cup juice for the cupcakes and reserve the cherries for decorating!)
• 1 cup Cherry 7UP®

For the Frosting:

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 5-6 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoon Cherry 7UP®
• 2-3 drops bright green gel coloring
• Maraschino cherries
• Sprinkles, optional

When you have all of your ingredients gathered up, it's time to get to work!

Nothing fancy required for the batter, just add all of the ingredients (cake mix, oil, eggs,  Cherry 7UP®, and ¼ cup Maraschino cherry juice) into a big bowl and mix it up!

Don't let my picture fool you - you need a full cup of Cherry 7UP®... I just couldn't find the right measuring cup so I had to put four ¼ cups in.. haha!

This is my first time to make cupcakes with a carbonated beverage so it was new for the batter to be so bubbly, but gosh - it sure did taste good and it was a pretty “cherry” pink!

I used a cookie scoop to divvy out the batter (fill them about half full) and then I popped them in the oven (at 325°F) for 18 minutes and they came out perfect:

While the cupcakes are cooling, go ahead and mix up the frosting! It's just as easy as the cupcake batter... cream the butter, Cherry 7UP®, and lime juice together until smooth, then add in powdered sugar until you get a good stiff frosting:

I like to start by adding in 4 cups of powdered sugar, then add a little more at a time until it's just right (usually around 5 cups works, but you may need more if your butter is softer).

Now the real fun starts! Before I called the kids into the kitchen, I set up a "decorating station" on our bar. I got out Christmas sprinkles, a bowl of Maraschino cherries, and I prepared a piping bag full of the buttercream with a star tip!

OH - and paper towel for each child plus their own Cherry 7UP®. I was hoping to catch the extra sprinkles with the paper towels... and it helped. Some. Haha! I got my 4 youngest together and away we went decorating  and making fun memories!

Since I'm a cake decorator, my  kids have a little bit of experience with a piping bag, so I let them do that part themselves. If your kids haven't used one before, you may have to help them or do the frosting for them, but if you can stand the mess... they have so much fun doing it themselves!

There's nothing better than the moment you see the big proud smiles on their faces when they have made a "perfect" cupcake:

That's priceless, huh? While they were all decorating,  I sprinkled a few cupcakes too:

We had a blast decorating these together and the kids loved taking the cupcakes to our family gathering and sharing what they had decorated! Even better, they were delicious and we found a new way to use a delicious drink in a recipe!

Since these are red (pink?) and green, they'd be perfect for a kid's Christmas party or other holiday party!

Want more recipe inspiration with your favorite drinks? Find more ideas from these perfect holiday moments.

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