Vanilla-Cream Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

We bought a Costco-sized box of strawberries for Easter this year, so you know what that means: strawberries everywhere! V-man actually loves them, but we feel like feeding him an entire 4 lb. pack of strawberries before they all go bad might be a bit overkill. So of course, I hopped onto Pinterest for ideas on how to use strawberries for desserts. Since Easter was coming up, as well as my last day of work, I had a few dessert opportunities to fill.

I found a recipe for these Vanilla Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream from the BAKER upstairs. I basically followed all her instructions exactly for the cupcakes and strawberry buttercream this time around. I did, however, throw in a little twist to make them extra decadent. 

Vanilla Cream. That's right. I'm all about filling cupcakes with something - anything - these days, so I had to think of something that would make these already exquisite cupcakes even better. I used my recipe for vanilla cream filling that I typically put in my chocolate cupcakes. This added a nice sweet cream to the vanilla cupcakes. That, paired with the tart/sweet strawberry buttercream made for quite the cupcake. 

I took them to work and they were totally gone by lunch. I think it's because of the frosting. That strawberry frosting is so amazing! I had some left over and had to nibble on it right when I got back from work that night. It is so fresh and has no artificial taste to it. I think it would be fantastic on a chocolate cake as well, maybe for a Valentine's treat?

Enjoy!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. cake flour
• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 c. butter, cold, cut into small cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line two muffin tins with paper liners. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup, and add about half of the milk mixture to the flour mixture. Beat until well blended and smooth. Add the other half of the milk mixture, and beat until smooth.
2. Fill paper liners 2/3 full and bake 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Fresh Strawberry Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 2 stick butter, softened
• pinch of salt
• 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 Tbsp. strawberry puree (about 1/2 c. strawberries)

Instructions:

1. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the salt and powdered sugar, until combined. Add the vanilla and strawberry puree and beat until light and fluffy.
2. Place in piping bag and frost to your heart's content.

Vanilla Cream Filling

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 1/4 c. shortening
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

1. Combine the milk and flour in a saucepan; cook until thick. Cover and refrigerate.
2. In a bowl, beat butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add chilled milk mixture and beat 10 minutes. 
3. Place in a piping bag and stick the tip into the middle of the cooled cupcakes. Pipe in filling as you slowly pull the piping bag up and out of the cupcake. The filling should slowly plump up the cupcake and disperse itself through the middle.