Cherry ICEE Cupcakes

I wanted to make something patriotic looking for the 4th of July.
I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest and thought it would be perfect, I modified it (unintentionally) because I didn't read all the way through that it was actually for 4 different types of frosting. So my Cherry ICEE frosting wasn't as red or (assuming this one) as cherry flavored -- but they were still cherry delicious!
I paired the frosting with a modified version of my white cake recipe.
My cupcakes turned out to be more pink than red -- even with adding a lot of Wilton "Christmas Red" coloring -- so I say opt out of food coloring and just have pink frosting without running the risk of dying everyone's faces.

yield: 36 cupcakes

ingredients

for cupcakes

18 tbs butter, softened

2 1/4 C sugar

3 C flour

1 tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

9 egg whites

1 1/8C buttermilk

1 tbs vanilla extract

for frosting 

4 sticks room temperature butter

5C powdered sugar

1 tbs vanilla

1 package cherry Jell-O mix*

1 tbs maraschino cherry juice*

*1 package of Jell-O and 1 tbs of cherry juice provides a light cherry flavor. For a redder color and a stronger cherry flavor add an additional package of Jell-O mix and an additional tbs of cherry juice.

directions

1. for cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl (or stand mixer), beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
3. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In another bowl, mix egg whites, milk and vanilla extract.
5. Alternate adding the flour mixture and egg mixture to the butter mixture.
6. Mix until just combined.
7. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners (or grease muffin cups).
8. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.
9. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let cool.
11. for frosting:   Beat butter on medium-high, until fluffy, about 4 minutes.
12. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing each time until completely incorporated.
13. Add vanilla and cherry juice, mixing until combined.
14. Add in Jell-O mix, mixing on low until combined.
15. Beat frosting on medium-high for 6 minutes, until light and fluffy (and this helps the Jell-O mix dissolve so you don't have gritty frosting).
16. Pipe (or spread) frosting onto cooled cupcakes.
17. Enjoy!