Recipe: Strawberry Cupcakes

We love celebrating birthdays in our house.  My girls especially like to celebrate their teacher's birthdays so when one of our teachers had a birthday last month, I made some strawberry cupcakes.  I have seen several blogs that have made these adorable roses on cakes and cupcakes.  They appeared to be so daunting, but after looking at this blog, I realized I was being a big baby and they were really easy.  

I could have also gone the easy route and made the cupcakes from a box mix, but I wanted up my game. I used this recipe that I found on the blog, Apron of Grace, that I had pinned a while back and I am so glad that I found it.  It is a bit more work than just throwing it together from the box, but it is worth it.  I actually had a small bag of frozen strawberries that I put in a saucepan and reduced down to a thick yummy juice.  I smashed the strawberries with a fork and left them a bit on the chunky side.  I also decided to skip adding the red food coloring which made by cupcakes a pale pink, which I loved.  If you want a bright pink, then add the red food coloring.

I made enough cupcakes for all the teachers and students in the third grade.  My kids loved the cupcakes and I was so glad that I tried something new.  I will be decorating all kinds of cupcakes and cakes with this new rose technique.  I think a beautiful cake decorated with all roses for Mother's Day would be so beautiful.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Cupcakes

{original recipe by Apron of Grace}

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Ingredients

For the Cupcakes

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp red food coloring
• 1 1/4 cups pureed strawberries
• 3 cups cake flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1 cup buttermilk

For the Frosting

• 1 - 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup half and half/whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp red food coloring
• 1 lb. powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line cupcake tin with liners.
3. In a medium bowl, beat butter with sugar for 3 minutes.
4. Add egg yolks one at a time, then the vanilla, food coloring and strawberries, beat for another 3 minutes.
5. Sift dry ingredients and add to butter/egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients., mixing just till combined.
6. In another bowl and clean beaters, beat egg whites till stiff and add in an increment of 3 to cake batter, being sure to fold in thoroughly but gently.
7. Bake for 12 to 18 minutes for cupcakes and 20-25 minutes for 9 inch round cake pans.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

For the Frosting

1. In a medium bowl, add cream cheese and butter, whip till light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add liquids and blend.
3. Slowly add powdered sugar while mixing.
4. At this point you may need to add more powdered sugar. You are trying to achieve a medium stiff consistency. Whip for several minutes.

To Make the Roses

1. Using a 1M tip, fill the pastry bag with frosting. 
2. To make your rose, start in the center, then slowly move your tip in a circle around the center point.

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