Recipe courtesy of Pate Giltner
Hidden Strawberry Cupcakes with Vanilla-Strawberry Swirl Frosting
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 12 servings
- Calories
- 605
- Total Fat
- 26
- Saturated Fat
- 16
- Carbohydrates
- 90
- Dietary Fiber
- 1
- Sugar
- 70
- Protein
- 4
- Cholesterol
- 99
- Sodium
- 186
- Total: 1 hr 30 min
- Active: 30 min
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup puréed strawberries
12 fresh strawberries, tops removed
Frosting:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup powdered freeze-dried strawberries (see Cook’s Note)
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
Special equipment:
2 regular piping bags without tips; 1 extra-large piping bag fitted with a ti- For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Cream the butter and granulated sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and
- fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each in completely before adding the next egg.
- Beat in the milk and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture. Pour in the puréed strawberries and
- mix just to combine.
- Divide the batter evenly between the lined muffin cups. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when gently touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
- Using a sharp knife, cut out a strawberry-size hole in the top of each cupcake. Fill the
- holes with the strawberries.
- For the frosting: Combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar together in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, starting on low and working up to high speed (this will keep the sugar from billowing out). Beat in the cream, vanilla and salt.
- Transfer half the frosting to a piping bag that’s not fitted with a tip. Add the freeze-dried strawberries to the remaining frosting and blend until smooth. Scrape the strawberry frosting into another piping bag without a tip. Fit an extra-large piping bag with your desired tip and then place both the piping bags inside the extra-large bag. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in a swirl.
Cook’s Note
Making powder from regular freeze-dried strawberries is easy. Just put 1 to 1 1/2 cups in a blender or food processor. Blend or pulse until no lumps remain, then measure out 1/2 cup.