Strawberry Cupcakes

 Cupcakes

For Chelsea's 

Birthday

Chelsea turned 23 on the 8th and I wanted to make her pink cupcakes with something "girlie" on top, hence the pink rose. I filled them with fresh whipped cream and frosted them with cream cheese frosting. I was going for a "Strawberry Shortcake" taste and feel, but they didn't really turn out that way, but they were good just the same...

So, I used a boxed cake and altered it by adding fresh pureed strawberries, pudding & sour cream but it still had somewhat of an artificial flavor. Cake boxes are good in a pinch if you are short on time and they are moist and keep until the next day but for some reason the strawberry kind was not my favorite. Next time I will do them from scratch but do a vanilla base and add the pureed strawberries in the batter. 

Birthday Girl

INGREDIENTS

• 1 box strawberry cake mix
• 1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup fresh pureed strawberries

FILLING

• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 3-4 tablespoons powder sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

FROSTING

• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup butter (2 cubes) room temperature
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 8 cups sifted powder sugar

DIRECTIONS

BATTER: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. In a mixer, combine cake mix and pudding and mix well. Add eggs, oil, sour cream, strawberries and combine completely for 3 minutes. Scraping down the sides of the bowl.

FILLING: Get your bowl and beaters cold by putting in the freezer while you are making the batter. Beat whipping cream until it starts to thicken then add the sugar and vanilla. Beat until soft peaks form. Set aside until cupcakes are baked and fully cooled.

FROSTING: Beat together butter and cream cheese until completely combined. Add powder sugar in stages so it doesn't get all over you. Add the milk a little at a time so you can achieve the consistency you are looking for. 

FILLING CUPCAKES: Using a pastry bag with #865 star tip, fill the bag with whip cream. Insert into the center of cooled cupcake and fill approximately 1 teaspoon full. If you fill too much it will split the cupcake. If you don't have a pastry bag then cut a hole out in the center of the cupcake, fill with whipped cream with a plastic zip lock bag with the corner cut off and place the top of the cupcake that you cut off over the hole. Frost as normal.