Strawberries are in season. Everyone is eating them fresh or putting them in salads. I’m putting them in desserts, as usual. These are so easy to whip up and perfectly capture the essence of strawberries — moist, light and sweet. The frosting is not too sweet but very fluffy, and both frosting and cake are packed with plenty of strawberry power. I’d love to try this again but paired with champagne or basil or mint. The possibilities are endless — just take advantage of all the fresh berries around you!
Strawberry Cupcakes Makes about 24 regular-sized cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 cups chopped strawberries, divided
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease 24 muffin cups. Set aside.
• In a bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, then add eggs one at a time until combined.
• Add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
• Then add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined.
• Fold 1 cup of the strawberries directly into the batter.
• Pour batter into the prepared cups until they are three-quarters full.
• After pouring the batter into the cupcake pans, distribute the remaining strawberry pieces on top of the batter.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until they spring back lightly when you press the tops (or when a cake tester comes out clean or with few crumbs attached).
• Let cool completely before frosting.
Strawberry Frosting 5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract*
8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup chopped strawberries
• In a saucepan, mix the flour with the milk until no lumps remain.
• Once the mixture has been stirred, put the pan on low heat and keep stirring until the mixture thickens and resembles mashed potatoes.
• Remove pan from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
• Refrigerate until the mixture has completely cooled.
• Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
• Mash the chopped strawberries. (You can do this with a mortal and pestle or in a blender or food processor or chop very finely by hand.)
• Add the strawberries and the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Frost the cupcakes.
* You can try adding a different extract ? such as champagne or mint ? for a more interesting flavor.
Cupcakes can be served at room temperature or stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.
This article appears in June 2013.
