In celebration of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month and my co-worker Tami's birthday (who picked this weeks flavor) I made strawberry cupcakes with a strawberry cream cheese frosting. Both recipes are from Martha Stewart, the cupcake recipe is all over the Internet. So many people have tried this recipe out that I wanted to see what the big deal was and have been waiting for the perfect occasion to made them. I must admit after making them and trying them, I was not impressed with the cupcake cake. It just wasn't enough strawberry flavor for me and too dense. So I will be on the hunt for the perfect strawberry cake recipe. However I was blown away by the frosting! It seriously really does taste like strawberry ice cream!!! I think I could sit down with a bowl of this frosting and eat it with a spoon it's that good!! In fact I have some left over and that thought is pretty tempting...hmmm. The cupcakes and frosting are both a very light pink, I swear, I just have a cheap camera that doesn't take very good "detail" picture (hint, hint Christmas present Dave :)) I bought a container of fondant from Michael's awhile ago and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. I used a small flower cutter to cut out a dozen flowers and used an edible marker to write "Check your Ta Ta's" on them. I've actually never tasted fondant before and wasn't sure what to expect as I've heard it's not very good, but to my surprise it really wasn't that bad at all. On the other dozen cupcakes I wanted to make pink ribbons. For these I melted 4 squares of white chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, added a small amount of pink gel to make the chocolate light pink. I let the chocolate cool slightly and poured it into a squeeze bottle. I printed off a page of ribbons which I laid under wax paper and then used traces the ribbons in chocolate. I then put the wax paper with chocolate ribbons in a cookie sheet and places in the refrigerator to harden overnight until I assembled my cupcakes the next day.
Makes 1 dozen.
- 2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed
- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.
- 1/2 cup whole strawberries
- 1 stick unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
- 1 8 ounce package of cream cheese, slightly cold
- 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- 22 ounces of confectioners’ sugar (approximately 1.4 pounds)
Directions:
Note: The frosting is able to be piped, but is on the soft side and definitely needs to be refrigerated!
They sound divine and look so cute!
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