Pineapple Buttercream Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 375º F. Place cupcakes liners to muffin pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugar, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy. Add in the egg whites, beat again.

Add in the sour cream and vanilla extract, mix by hand with spatula.

In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, gently mix with a spoon.

Gradually add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, do not dump it in, rather take spoonfuls of the flour mixture and gently shake it over the wet ingredients, as if you were sifting in the flour. Fold in the mixture until no flour remains. Repeat with the other half of the flour, folding it in and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything.

Add in the yellow food coloring, mix to incorporate.

Divide the batter among the yellow cupcake liners, filling each 1/2 full.

Bake at 375º F for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350º will keeping the cupcakes in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a cupcake.

Allow the cupcakes to cool before adding the buttercream.

In a mixing, bowl beat the butter and vegetable shortening with an electric mixer until smooth, about 4 minutes.

Add in 3 cups of powdered sugar, mix by hand with a spatula.

Add in more powdered sugar as you see fit, up to 6 more cups if needed (add 1 cup at a time), mixing first by hand then with an electric mixer.

Add in the pina pineapple kool aid powder, mix to combine.

Divide the buttercream into 2 bowls - one will by dyed yellow and one will be dyed green.

Add the appriopate food coloring to each bowl, mixing one last time with an electric mixer until the color is incorporated.

Using a large cookie scoop, scoop up yellow buttercream. The cookie scoop should be full of frosting, but level the frosting and remove any excess the overfills the scoop.

Use the release on the scoop, release the buttercream onto a cupcake.

Use a small metal spatula to smooth the buttercream  onto the cupcake, having the buttercream meet the edge of the cupcake liner.

Fill a piping bag set with a wilton #123 tip with green buttercream.

Squeeze the piping bag, adding a good sized dollop of buttercream to the center of the cupcake. This is the base of the leaves from which we will build off from.

Begin to add the leaves, starting at the base of the dollop you just made. To do so place the buttercream tip against the dollop, squeeze as you pull the piping bag away. You want to make these spiky looking leaves.

Continue adding leaves until the entire dollop is covered.

Best served the same day that you add the buttercream.