I love strawberries. I love cupcakes (much like the rest of the world, at the moment.) It's natural to pair them. However, there's a problem.
Blueberries? Great. Awesome in muffins, pie, and lots of other things. Raspberries? Can't be beat. But see, I have baked with strawberries before. For one thing, baking dulls the flavor of a fresh berry. Roasting is slightly better, but they still taste jammy and cooked to me. Chopped fresh berries--even when sugared to release their juices--still leave a soggy, wet, gummy hole in a muffin or cupcake, no matter what you do. I've tried a recipe or two for strawberry muffins that used a puree, or just juice--the flavor is never strong enough.
What to do?
Awhile ago I found these at Whole Foods (Henry's, in San Diego.) They are freeze-dried strawberries, like astronaut strawberries. Seriously. I have since noticed Trader Joe's has their own brand, too.
The wheels began to turn. I finally got around to making my first version of these today. I pulverized them in my food processor to a fine powder, and just added them in with the dry ingredients. I wondered what they would do--act as flour? Sugar? Would they even rise?
I am happy to report that the results were phenomenal. I managed to get an entire pound of strawberries into a batch of 24 cupcakes. No moisture, no unnecessary bulk, just a pound of pure, fresh, bright strawberry flavor. The texture of this cupcake, which is stellar to begin with, is helped along by addition of half a cup of whipped cream. (Which when added to my standard cupcake recipe make sit even better, and will most likely become my new go-to. Thanks, Shirley.) They are moist, tender, and melt right in your mouth.
To make these extra-delicious and really amp up the flavor, I made a cream-cheese frosting and added pureed fresh berries to that, too. Now in the photos you'll see it came out a bit soft--don't worry, I corrected that in the recipe given. It was an error on my part, but the given recipe would be stiff enough to pipe if you refrigerate it first.
I made these and gave them to a friend whose favorite cupcakes are strawberry. She gave me the best compliment--"heaven in a wrapper." Even the underwhelmed husband said "really good", which from him is four stars. I persnally feel these are a triumph. After years of searching for ways to get fresh strawberry flavor in a baked good, I have the answer!
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
by Anna at Mediocre Chocolate
284g (2 1/2 cups) cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tub or package (1 -1/2 oz, about 35-42 grams) freeze-dried strawberries
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) butter, 65-70 degrees
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
Preheat oven to 375. Prepare two 12-cup muffin tins with liners.
In a food processor, pulverize berries until finely crushed--pea or pinhead size pieces are ok.
Mix together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl for a full minute, including crushed berries.
Mix togther yogurt and vanilla.
In a mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy and almost white in color, at least 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, and scrape bowl well. Reduce mixer speed to low, and add 1/2 of flour mixture, beating til just blended. Add half of the yogurt mixture, then half of the remaining flour, then the rest of the yogurt. Mix til just blended, then remove and scrape well with a spatula until all ingredients are incorporated.
In a medium bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Fold gently into cake batter. Portion into muffin tins, and bake 20-22 minutes, til toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let rest in tins 5-10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
1 stick (4 oz) butter, soft
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, soft
1 box powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 basket fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, pureed, and strained of seeds
Whip together butter and cream cheese til smooth. Add powdered sugar, and add strawberry puree by the tablespoon (up to 1/4 cup) til frosting reaches a good consistency. Chill until firm enough to spread or pipe, 1-2 hours. You will have leftover puree.
Garnish with a sprinkle of powdered berries, if desired.
For an added zip, you could add some lemon zest to the batter or frosting, but I chose not to this time. Maybe next time...
** Notes about next time.
The freeze dried berries absorb moisture quickly, so use an unopened package and process it right away.
These cupcakes are incredibly tender, with almost no gluten. Don't fill liners more than half-full, or they'll flatten out over the tins unattractively. I may try to strengthen them a wee bit in future tests--in the meantime, don't hesitate to stir the flour in vigorously.
If you'd like a softer, more delicate frosting, add a few extra teaspoons of puree and apply with a spatula. You can also use a Swiss Meringue Buttercream flavored with the puree.
As with all cupcakes and cakes with a cream cheese frosting, refrigerate to store, but bring up to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Blueberries? Great. Awesome in muffins, pie, and lots of other things. Raspberries? Can't be beat. But see, I have baked with strawberries before. For one thing, baking dulls the flavor of a fresh berry. Roasting is slightly better, but they still taste jammy and cooked to me. Chopped fresh berries--even when sugared to release their juices--still leave a soggy, wet, gummy hole in a muffin or cupcake, no matter what you do. I've tried a recipe or two for strawberry muffins that used a puree, or just juice--the flavor is never strong enough.
What to do?
Awhile ago I found these at Whole Foods (Henry's, in San Diego.) They are freeze-dried strawberries, like astronaut strawberries. Seriously. I have since noticed Trader Joe's has their own brand, too.
The wheels began to turn. I finally got around to making my first version of these today. I pulverized them in my food processor to a fine powder, and just added them in with the dry ingredients. I wondered what they would do--act as flour? Sugar? Would they even rise?
I am happy to report that the results were phenomenal. I managed to get an entire pound of strawberries into a batch of 24 cupcakes. No moisture, no unnecessary bulk, just a pound of pure, fresh, bright strawberry flavor. The texture of this cupcake, which is stellar to begin with, is helped along by addition of half a cup of whipped cream. (Which when added to my standard cupcake recipe make sit even better, and will most likely become my new go-to. Thanks, Shirley.) They are moist, tender, and melt right in your mouth.
To make these extra-delicious and really amp up the flavor, I made a cream-cheese frosting and added pureed fresh berries to that, too. Now in the photos you'll see it came out a bit soft--don't worry, I corrected that in the recipe given. It was an error on my part, but the given recipe would be stiff enough to pipe if you refrigerate it first.
I made these and gave them to a friend whose favorite cupcakes are strawberry. She gave me the best compliment--"heaven in a wrapper." Even the underwhelmed husband said "really good", which from him is four stars. I persnally feel these are a triumph. After years of searching for ways to get fresh strawberry flavor in a baked good, I have the answer!
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
by Anna at Mediocre Chocolate
284g (2 1/2 cups) cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tub or package (1 -1/2 oz, about 35-42 grams) freeze-dried strawberries
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) butter, 65-70 degrees
2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup whipping cream
Preheat oven to 375. Prepare two 12-cup muffin tins with liners.
In a food processor, pulverize berries until finely crushed--pea or pinhead size pieces are ok.
Mix together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl for a full minute, including crushed berries.
Mix togther yogurt and vanilla.
In a mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy and almost white in color, at least 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, and scrape bowl well. Reduce mixer speed to low, and add 1/2 of flour mixture, beating til just blended. Add half of the yogurt mixture, then half of the remaining flour, then the rest of the yogurt. Mix til just blended, then remove and scrape well with a spatula until all ingredients are incorporated.
In a medium bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Fold gently into cake batter. Portion into muffin tins, and bake 20-22 minutes, til toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let rest in tins 5-10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
1 stick (4 oz) butter, soft
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, soft
1 box powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 basket fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, pureed, and strained of seeds
Whip together butter and cream cheese til smooth. Add powdered sugar, and add strawberry puree by the tablespoon (up to 1/4 cup) til frosting reaches a good consistency. Chill until firm enough to spread or pipe, 1-2 hours. You will have leftover puree.
Garnish with a sprinkle of powdered berries, if desired.
For an added zip, you could add some lemon zest to the batter or frosting, but I chose not to this time. Maybe next time...
** Notes about next time.
The freeze dried berries absorb moisture quickly, so use an unopened package and process it right away.
These cupcakes are incredibly tender, with almost no gluten. Don't fill liners more than half-full, or they'll flatten out over the tins unattractively. I may try to strengthen them a wee bit in future tests--in the meantime, don't hesitate to stir the flour in vigorously.
If you'd like a softer, more delicate frosting, add a few extra teaspoons of puree and apply with a spatula. You can also use a Swiss Meringue Buttercream flavored with the puree.
As with all cupcakes and cakes with a cream cheese frosting, refrigerate to store, but bring up to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
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