Today was a strawberry cupcake kind of day.

So I whipped some up, and I’m fairly happy with them. The cake itself is really light and fluffy and does taste more like strawberry than any other I’ve ever had, but the colour isn’t that pretty. I’m not quite sure how to achieve what I want without using synthetic ingredients or something that will affect the flavour. Something to ponder further I guess.

The icing was fantastic. I used some leftover honey french buttercream I had kickin’ around from some macarons I made, threw in a bit of icing sugar and a bunch of freeze dried strawberry powder. Super dooper strawberry.

I made some stupid little pink fondant circles. In the words of Lil’ Sis, it’s just fo’ decoration man, jus fo’ decoration.

Neat.

Strawberry Cupcakes

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp ground freeze dried strawberries
1/2 cup strawberry puree
1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare muffin tin with cupcake liners. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground freeze dried strawberries.  Set aside.  In another bowl, mix together strawberry puree, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Then add in the eggs and beat until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk mixture.  Start and finish with the flour.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula in between additions. Distribute batter evenly, and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool before icing.

Here’s a basic strawberry frosting recipe,

Strawberry Frosting

1/3 cup fresh strawberry puree
1 Tbsp freeze dried strawberry powder
1 cup unsalted butter, slightly cold
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Stir together the freeze dried strawberry powder and the strawberry puree.  Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and salt until light and fluffy. On low speed, slowly add confectioners’ sugar.  Beat until well combined.  Slowly add puree mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Do not overmix. Apply to the cupcakes however you want!

Cute!