Spring Cupcakes

Spring is without a doubt my favorite season.  I love the warmth of the sun, the blooming flowers, and the budding trees.  I also love the fresh fruit.  So obviously I had to make spring cupcakes with, what else, but strawberries.

I found a fabulous recipe for strawberry crepe cupcakes on foodgawker, and I had to try it.  I am always a little hesitant to try standard chocolate/vanilla cupcakes, since there are so many other fun options to make, but theses were the perfect combination of classic and exciting.  The vanilla cake is perfect- moist, fluffy and just dense enough, and the nutella frosting is addictive. 

These really taste like a strawberry nutella crepe- and they may be my new favorite cupcakes!  I will definitely be making these again.

Happy Spring,
Margaret

Strawberry Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!  I am definitely one of those people who takes their holidays seriously, and Valentine's day is no exception.  Seriously, it is a day to celebrate all of the people you love, wear pink and red, and eat ungodly amounts of chocolate (and cupcakes).  Because, well, it couldn't be Valentine's Day in the Cupcake Suite without cupcakes.

Last year I lived in a building with no kitchen- all we had to work with was a microwave.  So last year on Valentine's day I made chocolate covered strawberries with my friends.  This year I decided to stick with the same theme, but take it up a couple notches.  So I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate covered strawberries on top and strawberry cupcakes with a swiss meringue buttercream.  Everything was divine- the fact that nearly all thirty cupcakes were consumed this evening stands as proof.

For the strawberry cupcakes I adapted the Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcake recipe.  They came out beautifully- light and fluffy with a hint of strawberry.  Perfectly pink for Valentine's!

Strawberry Cupcakes

Makes 12-15 cupcakes

1 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, minced

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

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

red food coloring

Place the minced strawberries in a small saucepan and reduce over low heat, stirring often, until the consistency of jam.  Set aside to cool.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs, beating on low until combined.  Add the flour in two batches, alternating with the milk, making sure to mix completely after each addition.  Stir in the strawberry mix.

Fill 12-15 cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.  Bake at 350 for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

For the frosting, I followed Sweetapolita's Swiss Meringue Buttercream guide.  I divided the recipe she gives by four, and it made enough for my fifteen cupcakes and a little extra.  This frosting is pure airy, buttery goodness.  Seriously, you need to make it.

I also went with my classic Black Magic Chocolate Cupcakes.  They are a staple here in the cupcake suite.  It's hard to go wrong with chocolate, and this is hands down the best chocolate cupcake I've had.  They are also ridiculously easy.

Black Magic Chocolate Cupcakes

(Makes 18-24 cupcakes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup strong coffee

1 cup buttermilk

Stir together flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a whisk.

Stir in the vanilla, eggs, oil, coffee, and buttermilk until blended and then beat with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes. Batter will be soupy. Pour into cupcake cups.

Bake 20-24 minutes at 350 degrees- or until a toothpick comes out clean.

For the frosting (and the chocolate for the strawberries) I used a super simple chocolate ganache.  All you really need to do is microwave some chocolate chips with a splash of heavy cream.  Make sure to mix it well to let the chocolate completely melt.  Then you can spoon in onto the cupcakes and dip the strawberries.

And voila!  You have a lovely Valentine's Day dessert!

Love,

Margaret

Summer Strawberry Limeade

This morning I went with mom out to Costco and came back with, among other things, a 5 lb bag of limes. We had a mini mountain of limes in our kitchen.  Tragic?  Not nearly.  We did need to figure out something to do with at least a few of them though- they didn't all fit in their bowl.  So mom suggested strawberry limeade, to which I wholeheartedly agreed.  I found this recipe, which looked excellent, tweaked it a bit, and voila! strawberry limeade.  It goes excellently with a light lunch and some summer sun.

Oh, and we still had a mini mountain of limes left over afterwards.

Enjoy!
Margaret

Summer Strawberry Limeade

1 1/2 cups strawberries, quartered

1 cup lime juice

5 cups water

3/4 cups sugar

ice

Blend strawberries and lime juice together in a blender.  Pour into pitcher with 4 cups cold water and ice.  Heat 1 cup water with the sugar in microwave or stovetop, stirring often, until sugar has dissolved.  Add to pitcher.  Add extra lime or strawberry slices if desired.

Strawberry Success

I love cupackes, I love fruit, and therefore I love cupcakes made with fruit.  However, until recently, I have NOT gotten along well with frosting made with fruit.  I love how it tastes, but making it has been quite a challenge.  Because of the high water content in fruit, especially strawberries, mixing it into a buttercream or meringue becomes difficult.  The water doesn't mix with the butter and it separates into a gooey mess.  I have resorted to just frosting my cupcakes with a plain vanilla buttercream to avoid the disaster.  However, my mom recently suggested I try freeze dried fruit.  It worked.  I had these in the house, so I just took a pack of them and put them in the cuisinart.  The result was a very fine powder that blended perfectly into the buttercream cream cheese frosting.  You could also add in some strawberry extract, but I didn't have any on hand.  The result not only looked appealing, but tasted really excellent- fruit frosting has been conquered.

 Strawberry Frosting

(enough for 12 cupcakes or so)

4 tablespoons butter, softened (1/2 stick)

8 tablespoons cream cheese (1/2 8 oz pack)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar

6-8 freeze dried strawberries

Cream butter and cream cheese in electric mixer on high until fluffy (at least 2-3 minutes).  Add sugar a half cup at a time until fully combined.  Add in vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Place strawberries in a cuisinart and blend until they become a fine powder.  Add two tablespoons of the powder to the mixing bowl and beat on high until fully combined.  If desired, add more strawberry powder or strawberry extract to taste.

Enjoy your easy and delicious strawberry frosting! (It goes great on these cupcakes.)

Margaret