Lemon Drop Cupcakes!

Had someone place a cupcake order and told me to make whatever flavor I want!  Well, with all this snow, I decided to go for a more summery/sunny option!  LEMON!  These are pucker-up delicious!!!  Just the right amount of sweet and tart, and oh so lemony. . .and as an added bonus:  I used a cake mix!  What can I say, I was in a hurry and I just doctored it up a bit!  

Lemon Drop Cupcakes!

CAKE: 
1 box White Cake Mix
1 cup lemonade
zest of two lemons
juice of two lemons
1/3 cup oil
4 egg whites

1.  Mix together lemonade, lemon juice, lemon zest, oil, and egg whites.

2.  Stir in cake mix until thoroughly incorporated.

3.  Scoop batter into 24 cupcake liners and bake at 350 for about 22 minutes.  Cool Completely.

LEMON BUTTERCREAM:
1 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
2 tsp vanilla extract
5-6 cups powdered sugar
zest from one lemon
juice from two lemons
milk (enough to get desired consistency)

1.  Cream together butter and shortening.

2.  Slowly add in about half the powdered sugar.

3.  Mix in lemon zest, and lemon juice and whip the daylights out of it!

4.  This last part is all about your taste:  add in however much more powdered sugar or milk to get the desired taste or consistency you like.  I like my buttercreams a bit fluffy and airy so I whip it a lot, and use most of the sugar.  I usually add enough milk to make it light!

5.  Tint with food coloring if you wish, and frost cupcakes!