Foodie Friday- Shirley Temple Cupcakes

My mother was not the only one to point out the irony of choosing a non alcoholic drink to base my 21st birthday cupcakes off of, but I do love a good Shirley Temple. It's the kid in me! If you're a fan of this kiddie cocktail, you might want to try this cupcake. It's slightly healthier than your normal cupcake without any butter or oils that normally go into a cake. And it's easy peasey! Wanna try it out? Here's what you'll need:

1 box French Vanilla Cake Mix

1 can Sprite, 7-up or lemon-lime soda of your choice

1/2 cup chopped and stemmed maraschino cherries

1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice

Cut up your maraschino cherries into small pieces.

Blend your lemon lime soda, cherry juice and cake mix on high speed for 2 minutes.

Add your chopped cherries and stir until combined.

Spoon batter into lined cupcake tin about 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes and then ice with the frosting of your choice- and don't forget to top with a cherry!

The frosting I used was this:

1/4 softened butter

3 oz softened cream cheese

1 and 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbs maraschino cherry juice

but it was honestly much to sweet and heavy for this particular cupcake- I would use a cool whip frosting or something very light and not overly sweet to compliment the sweetness of the cake.

I love Jane Deere's recipe for Shirley Temple cupcakes- it's the one I used and just tweaked bits and pieces :)

There you go guys, I hope you enjoy it! These were a bit sweet for my taste- but if you have a real sweet tooth, try and it and let me know what you think :)