Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

To be honest, I found the cupcakes a little dry, even though no one else had a problem with them. I'm going to be experimenting with the recipe to see if I can't make it better. The name is also a bit deceptive: these are really just vanilla cupcakes with a sweetened whip-cream frosting and strawberry garnish. The same basic vanilla cupcake recipe occurs throughout the cookbook I used, so I think it's worth tinkering with it.

Ingredients (for the cupcakes):

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

you'll also need:

a muffin tin

12 cupcake liners

small loaf pan, greased

large mixing bowl

medium mixing bowl

handheld electric mixer (or stand mixer)

rubber spatula

wire rack

1. in the medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix them together thoroughly with a fork and set aside.

2. in the large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with the mixer until they are fluffy. Add the eggs (one at a time) and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour in thirds and the buttermilk in halfs, beating between each addition until just combined, scraping down the bowl with the spatula as needed.

3. preheat the oven to 350 F. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners until they're 3/4 full. This recipe makes 1 and 1/2 dozen cupcakes, but I made 12 cupcakes and 1 small loaf cake. If you want to make the full number of cupcakes, make sure you have a second muffin tin with the appropriate number of liners.

4. bake the cupcakes in the oven for about 20 minutes. When done, let them cook for 5 minutes, then remove them from the tin and let cool completely.

5. bake the loaf cake for at least 20 minutes, adding time in 5 minute increments until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out to cool completely on the rack.

Ingredients (for the icing):

1 cup whipping cream

4 tablespoons icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 strawberry per cupcake, sliced

you'll also need:

small to medium sized mixing bowl

electric hand mixer (or stand mixer)

knife or offset spatula

1. beat the cream, sugar and vanilla until the mixture has thickened and formed soft peaks.

2. spread the icing on each cupcake, then garnish with the sliced strawberries. Serve right away. The cupcakes can be stored, without topping, in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Good luck with that.

3. for the loaf, serve with topping. Or, slice in half, coat bottom layer with icing and sliced strawberries. Put the top back on, and cover with remaining icing. Yum!

I got this recipe from the book 500 Cupcakes (revised edition).  I adapted it in that I creamed the butter and sugar first, then added things in stages, whereas the book tells you to add everything at once and just mix it.