Flavors of Spring

When the weather turns warm, my cravings start to gravitate toward those of the fruit variety. Behold, I give you the Strawberry Cupcake!


These cupcakes were made for some dear friends of mine that I had lunch with last week (yes, I'm late posting these but better late than never!). The cake is vanilla with pieces of strawberry mixed in the batter. I used my usual vanilla cake recipe and added about 2 cups of quartered strawberries, mixing them in right before dividing them into the cupcake pan. The frosting is strawberry butter cream based on this recipe. I loosely follow it and adjust it based on how it's tasting as I add the sugar, and also on the consistency I need. Using strawberries in the frosting can make it a little runny, so it needs to be played with a bit to get it just right. Also, that particular recipe makes a LOT of frosting, so you may need to adjust it unless you are making more than 2 dozen cupcakes. The really great thing about this frosting (aside from it's scrumptiousness) is the color. That pink is all-natural, no artificial coloring needed!
These cupcakes are not only delicious, but also showcase my new-found frosting abilities! Don't you just love the little rosettes? So sweet! Just like a strawberry cupcake :).