*These are hands down the yummiest, fluffiest, and most fresh tasting strawberry cupcakes ever!* Valentines Day is kind of a big deal at our household, and to top that off my little baby has a birthday a few days before! We've got pink thrown up all over the house, heart pictures and talks of boyfriends, valentine notes attached to sugar...
And cupcakes. The BEST Strawberry Cupcakes!
Now, before we get to the recipe, let's talk about my wonderful experience with Valentines during...High School.
When I was in High School, our school did this thing where we could purchase a Valentine Gram for a dollar, and then during one of the periods a bubbly student from student council would deliver you a personalized card to your class. I think there was candy attached or a balloon. Something obnoxious, in which I wanted so bad.
It was the most painful thing every year.
Each Valentines Day the same girls/guys would receive Valentines Grams as they laughed it off as kind of a, "who, me?!" mentality. Meanwhile I would sit there counting down the minutes until lunch time so I could purchase a BRC (bean, rice, cheese) burrito. Priorities right?
One year I received a Valentines Gram. I don't exactly remember it, but I'm pretty sure everyone in class looked at me like, "Do you even go here?"
And then one kid shouted, "Yes! She's the burrito girl!"
I remember sitting there with butterflies in my stomach thinking that maybe, just maybe it could be from so and so. Or maybe that other so and so...He was totally hot.
As I ripped in half that little heart sticker that held it together I began to feel flush in the face. Kind of like the same feeling I get just before that burrito hits my mouth. I had visions of my whole life changing and that maybe my life would turn out to be a Mary-Kate and Ashley Movie after all!
This is what the Candy Gram said,
" Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Sugar is Sweet and So Are You! Happy Valentines Day! Love...."
...Nicole!"
Aka, my best friend. #soabouthoseburritos
Strawberry Cupcakes w/ Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
Serves:
13
Ingredients
- For The Cupcakes
- 1 1/2 c. flour, unbleached white
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. buttermilk, or 1/2 c. milk + 1 tsp. vinegar mixed together
- 1/4 c. strawberry puree*
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 c. pure cane sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 TB. vanilla extract or 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
- Opt: 3-4 drops red food coloring
- For The Frosting
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, room temperature.
- 4 c. powdered sugar
- 4 TB. strawberry puree
- 1 TB. Vanilla extract, or 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
- (Opt: 2-3 drops red food coloring)
- dash of salt
Instructions
- (For the Cake)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a mixer bowl add butter and sugar. mix together until fluffy on low speed for 30 seconds. Next add in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla.
- Add your strawberry puree to your buttermilk.
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the batter, followed by 1/3 of the buttermilk mixture. Continue doing this until the flour and buttermilk are gone. Do not over mix the batter.
- Add in the food coloring if you prefer. You can mix it in, but not fully to give it a swirled look.
- Add batter to prepared muffin tins, filling 2/3 of the way full. It will make about 12-14 cupcakes.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until done.
- (For the Frosting)
- While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting.
- Beat the butter until fluffy. Add in the rest of the ingredients and beat until fluffy.
- (opt:) You can tint half of the frosting mixture and pipe both frostings together in one piping bag. Just add one color to one side, and the other color to the other. Then pipe the frosting onto the cupcake! Top with sprinkles and enjoy!
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Moral of the story...Burritos before Bros.
Happy Birthday to my little baby! I can't believe you are one!!