February 13, 2011

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

{ made with love for my love }
This was the special treat made for my husband's birthday this past Friday (recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart).  I also made extra to contribute to a fundraising bake sale with the proceeds going toward a wonderful New York-based, non-profit organization called Bread and Water (they help provide relief across the world). 

It's a wonderful dessert to share with loved ones on Valentine's Day or any day for that matter.  I love the light fluffiness and sweet strawberry flavor of the buttercream frosting, but the cake itself is also delicious and moist (with the help of a little milk). 

Though the recipe can seem intimidating, it's really not.  The cupcake is simple to make (the most time-consuming part was chopping the strawberries).  The swiss meringue buttercream frosting can be made in advance or while the cupcakes are baking.  Here's a basic tutorial on how to make swiss meringue buttercream frosting.  If you refrigerate the cupcakes, just be sure to let them defrost at room temperature for a couple hours before serving.

To make it more festive, I transformed strawberry gummy candy and strawberry slices into heart shapes as garnish.


I've made a handful of different cupcakes now, and I have to say these are definitely among the top fave. 

Happy Valentine's Day!




Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Recipe from Martha Stewart
{ Makes 34 cupcakes }

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups finely chopped strawberries, plus small strawberries for garnish (or use gummy strawberry candy for garnish)
Strawberry Buttercream (recipe below)

Directions: 
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
  2. Reduce speed to low. Mix in the vanilla. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk and ending with the flour.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Stir in chopped strawberries.  Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
  3. Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.  Once cupcakes are cool, frost tops with strawberry buttercream.  Frosted cupcakes will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 days. Top with a strawberry just before serving.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Recipe from Martha Stewart
{Makes about 5 cups}

Ingredients:
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, pureed

Directions:
  1. Place whites and sugar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
  2. Remove from heat, and attach bowl to a mixer. Whisk on medium speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to medium-high, and whisk until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium, and add butter, 1 piece at a time, whisking well after each addition.
  3. Switch to a paddle attachment. With mixer on low, add strawberry puree, and beat until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Use immediately, or cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. (Bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth before using.)

30 comments:

  1. YUM! I love strawberry cupcakes. I love the little heart shaped decorations too! Perfect for Valentine's day!

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  2. These are just darling little cupcakes!! I want to eat the pictures! :)

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  3. Love these! My daughter was just walking by and asked if we could make them tonight!!

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  4. so pretty... I love strawberry cupcakes...

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  5. These look amazing! I'm sure your boys gobbled them up!

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  6. Wonderful strawberry flavor. I adore the toppers.

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  7. I love strawberry cake! These cupcakes look amazing - nicely done!

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  8. Oh! Please come over and bring me one to taste!! :) AHH!!!

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  9. gorgeous cupcakes, rachel! strawberry buttercream is my fave - although i usually make an american version w/ butter and powdered sugar...tastes like ice cream! i'll have to try the swiss meringue one of these days... your hubby is very lucky. ;) happy valentine's day!

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  10. Strawberry cupcakes sound delicious! The cupcakes look so pretty too, especially topped with more strawberries!

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  11. Congrats on top9! Those are stunning!

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  12. Those are some really pretty cupcakes! thanks for sharing the recipe & congrats on making the Top 9!

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  13. I definitely love the strawberries going on here! Such a cute cupcake and I'm sure they tasted stellar!

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  14. Ooh, I just saw this in my sidebar (Foodbuzz gadget). Very lovely looking cupcakes. I'd eat one for breakfast if I could (smile). Oh, and congrats on the Top 9 too!

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  15. Wow the strawberry hearts are amazing!!! That is such an amazing idea!

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  16. Thank you all for your comments!. These were fun to make and my husband thoroughly enjoyed them. I was originally looking for heart-shaped chocolates as toppings but couldn't find any. So I improvised with strawberry slices and gummy candy.

    @Time for Good Food - Rachel, my boys did enjoy these and gobbled it right up. But they are very sensitive to sweets (probably b/c I'm a cruel mom and don't let them have it often) so they were bouncing off the walls!

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  17. I made this recipe over the weekend too!! Turned out so yummy!!

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  18. I love anything strawberry!! Thanks for posting!

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  19. Aren't these cupcakes lovely! I'm glad they were for such a good cause. Well done on the top 9!

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  20. Love strawberries and love the butter cream. Great job! Congrats on the Top 9.

    We invite you to share this post and some of your favorite posts on Food Frenzy.
    Please check out our community at http://blogstew.net/foodfrenzy

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  21. Yum! I just made these two days ago ago and I couldn't stop eating them xD What icing tip is that? :O

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  22. @Anita Anita, thank you for your comment. These are my favorite cupcakes to date! I used an open star tip 1M for the frosting.

    http://www.wilton.com/technique/1M-Swirl

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  23. Colin's birthday party is next week and I might try this recipe (I'm going for red and blue theme). I'll let you know how it goes! =)

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  24. These look great - I am going to make these for my daughter's birthday!

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  25. my cupcakes did not rise much! did yours rise? i guess i have to pile on the frosting to get that "cupcake" look. kind of nervous considering the frosting requires three sticks of butter!

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  26. YUM! So good. I made them for a party snd everyone loved them.

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  27. These look beautiful - perfect for any occasion but for valentines day, especially :D
    Bookmarked!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru
    Latest: Ultimate Reese’s Stuffed Peanut M&M Peanut Butter Cookies + Peanut Butter Banana Softserve

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