Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

The recipe I found for these calls for raspberry liqueur, but I used some raspberry flavoring syrup I had on hand! It worked out great, and I didn't need to add any food coloring, as called for in the original recipe!

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes

3/4 cup butter
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons raspberry syrup
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 recipe Raspberry Frosting


Directions:
1. Allow butter and eggs to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Line 18 regular sized muffin cups with paper baking cups.
2. In medium sized bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer on high speed for about 30 seconds. Add sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and raspberry syrup; beat until fully combined, scraping sides of the bowl with spatula if needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and buttermilk, alternating between the two, mixing with electric mixer on medium speed.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each one about 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan for about 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack and let sit until completely cool.
6. Spread Raspberry Frosting over cupcakes.


***If I were going to make this WEMP free, I would substitute these ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening for the butter
1 3/4 cups wheat free flour mix for the wheat flour
4 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer and 6 Tablespoons water for the eggs
2/3 cup soy buttermilk (make homemade using 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, then fill the measuring cup up to the 2/3 cup mark with soy milk)