Strawberry Cupcakes

Everybody needs a go-to cupcake recipe that will literally go with anything.  This is mine.

I love mixing it up by carving out a bit of the core (with an apple corer!) and filling it with a fruit curd or another filling.  This time, I made a frosting with fresh local strawberries folded in and the flavour was something else.  It tasted so fresh and the plain vanilla cupcake let the strawberries shine through.

There are also chunks of strawberries involved too, because you gotta get your fruits.

Cupcake Ingredients

• 3/4 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Icing Ingredients

• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 4 cups icing sugar
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup strawberries, muddled
• Sprinkle of sugar

Steps

Preheat oven to 400F.

Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  In a separate bowl, whisk together vanilla, eggs and milk.  In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Add 1/2 of dry ingredients to butter and sugar and mix until just combined.  Add the wet ingredients and mix, then add remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined, scraping around the bowl as needed.

Pour batter into cupcake liners and bake for ~20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cupcake bounces back quickly when you tap the top.  Let cool fully.

While the cupcakes cool, prepare the strawberries.  Quarter and muddle the berries and sprinkle on a bit of white sugar and let sit for 5 minutes.  You don’t want them to be too chunky so they will blend into the icing.

Next, place the berries and their juices in a saucepan over medium heat and let them simmer and reduce until thick and syrupy.  Mix around and crush berries further and allow to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat the butter until completely smooth and light.  Add in icing sugar one cup at a time, mixing well between each addition.  Add vanilla and milk and mix well.  Fold in cooled strawberry mixture 1-2 tbsp at a time, until desired flavour intensity and texture is reached.