Strawberry Cupcakes

strawberry cupcakes with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream

these are by far my utmost favorite cupcakes and i absolutely adore them! i think my cupcakes have turned out really well the past few attempts - from the donna hay's double choc cupcakes to magnolia red velvet and vanilla ones but this just tops it all in terms of taste and texture.

i got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs - callmecupcake.se. i think linda's creations are absolutely stunning and are very classy. when i saw this recipe on her blog, i just wanted to make it immediately. the first time i made these, unfortunately, they turned out too sweet for me. it also didn't have enough strawberry aroma as the chopped strawberries were simply folded into the batter and not incorporated into the cake base. the second time round, i pureed the strawberries and added them with the milk. i also added extra chopped strawberries for texture and most importantly reduced the sugar by almost half. they tasted very good like that! very very moist, fluffy, not too sweet and the cake had a pale pink tinge which i liked.

if i'm not wrong, the original recipe is by sprinkles cupcakes shared on martha stewart's website here and i wanna try using that recipe someday.

recipe adapted from call me cupcake

ingredients (makes 12 regular cupcakes) :

for the cupcakes :

75g salted butter, softened

150g sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla sugar

150g cake flour

1 tsp double-acting baking powder

85ml milk

120g strawberry puree + 1/4 cup coarsely chopped ones to fold into the batter

for the strawberry swiss meringue buttercream :

5 large egg whites

210g butter, softened

190g sugar

100g strawberries, finely chopped

directions :

1.to make the cupcakes, line one standard 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. into a medium bowl, sift together cake flour and baking powder; set aside.

2. in a bowl, combine the strawberry puree and milk together. in another bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. beat in the egg. with the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk/puree and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition. fold in the strawberries.

3. divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups so that each is about two-thirds full. bake in a preheated oven of 170C, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. transfer pans to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on wire racks.

4. to make the strawberry buttercream, pour egg whites and sugar in a clean and heat proof bowl. put the bowl in a double boiler, the water should be simmering. whisk the sugar end eggs constantly so they don't curdle. the mixture should be about 65C, about 140-150F. if you don't have a thermometer, just rub some mixture between your fingers. if the sugar is melted, it is done. remove from heat, whip until white, fluffy and cool. this step can take up to 10 minutes. start adding the butter, very slowly. add chopped strawberries to the buttercream and whip until smooth. frost cupcakes and decorate with strawberry halves or as desired.