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Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes

Everyone knows I love a good cupcake (a little too much!). When I was looking for a new flavour idea, fresh strawberry cupcakes seemed so delightful. The humble strawberry is often left out of cupcakes in favour of our friend artificial strawberry flavouring….these cupcakes have a whole punnet of strawberry goodness in the cakes, then some more in the icing for good measure. What’s not to love about them? If it wasn’t for the butter, sugar and flour, they’d practically be health food! 🙂

Ingredients:

2/3 cup to 1 cup fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt10 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
For the Strawberry Cupcake Icing
1/2 cup butter, softened
3.5 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 teaspoons milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
Pink Food colouring (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers or grease with butter.
Place strawberries in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. You will need enough strawberries to yield 1/2 cup strawberry puree. Mix strawberry puree with milk and vanilla. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter 1 minute. Add sugar, beating well. Beat in eggs.
Alternately add half the strawberry mixture, then half the flour mixture, mixing until blended. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to fill muffin tins.
Bake 20 to 22 minutes. Cool strawberry cupcakes 10 minutes in muffin tins, then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling.
Make strawberry cupcake icing: Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla and 1 tsp. of milk. If frosting is too thick, beat in another teaspoon or two of milk until icing reaches desired consistency. Stir in chopped strawberries. I added pink food colouring to mine, but if you leave this out, you will see the lovely pink flecks from the strawberries.
Frost completely cooled strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry icing.

What’s your favourite cupcake flavour? Would you give these strawberry bad-boys a go? Serve with a glass of Rose for an added treat!!

Funfetti Cupcakes

Nothing spells party time like sprinkles!! Little Dash turned two this weekend, so it was time for some serious baked goods!! Whilst it’s well known that the key to an excellent children’s party is ample amounts of wine for the adults, these funfetti cupcakes were a hit!! Thankfully there weren’t many of these left over after the party, or I most likely would have eaten all of them!!

I used this recipe from Crazy Crust….the cakes themselves were perfect….with the addition of buttermilk, they were seriously delicious!! They’re sugary….they’re buttery….they’re delicious!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
125 grams butter, melted
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk (or combine 3/4 cup milk + 1 teaspoon white vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes)
1/2 cup Sprinkles

Frosting

250 grams butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Additional Sprinkles, for decorating

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line cupcake tins with liners (makes 15).
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Add melted butter to a large bowl and mix in sugar with a hand mixer for 30 seconds, until thick and yellow. Add eggs one at at time, beating after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Don’t over mix! Stir in sprinkles. Divide batter among liners, filling 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup of batter per cupcake). Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. (Mine took less than 20, so check at 15!) Cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting: Beat butter until creamy. Beat in salt and 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time until it’s all added. Beat in vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream. Add more cream as needed for desired consistency.
Frost cupcakes by placing frosting in a pastry bag. I like the 1M tip, it gives pretty swirls. Add sprinkles for fun!
Note: you can make the frosting the day before, but let it come to room temperature before using.

Dash can’t stop saying “good birthday” and it’s too adorable!! I’m sure these delightful cakes had something to do with it!!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

There’s been far too many healthy recipes on Pop Therapy of late, so it was definitely time to bake something devious!! I made these cupcakes for a friends birthday and they were a hit…. easy to make, and loved by all!!

Nothing beats an Oreo…..except maybe combining it with delicious chocolate cake, coating it in cookies and cream icing, then topping it with another Oreo….and don’t forget to serve with milk….possibly milk which contains additional Oreos…. and maybe a side of ice cream, also containing Oreos…

I used this recipe from Bakerella

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup hot water
24 Oreos, plus more for crumbs

Frosting:
250 grams butter
250 grams icing supar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 or more teaspoons Oreo cookie crumbs

For the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Line tray with 12 baking cups.
Place one whole cookie in each cup or break apart at least 12 cookies and place the broken pieces into each cup.
Mix the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl using a wire whisk.
Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and milk and mix well until thoroughly combined. Add the hot water and mix until combined.
Transfer the batter (it will be very liquid) to a large measuring cup and then pour batter into each baking cup so it’s about three quarters full. You should have a little left over.
Bake for 16-18 minutes.

Makes at least 12 cupcakes

For the frosting:

Beat the butter in a mixer until smooth.
Add vanilla and mix until combined.
Add the powdered sugar in three additions, scraping down the sides after each addition.
Add a Tablespoon of milk at a time and mix together until you achieve the consistency you like.
Add the cookie crumbs and mix until completely combined. You can add more if you like, but I just wanted a light speckling to show off the white frosting.
Place frosting in a decorator bag with a 1M tip and swirl on top of each cupcake.
Insert a cookie on top of each cupcake.
You can also apply frosting on each cupcake in a mounded shape. Turn upside down and roll the top around in a small bowl of cookie crumbs to coat.

Would you try these? Are you an Oreo lover? What’s your dream cupcake flavour!?

Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes

So I’m raspberry baked good addict now!! For those of you that saw my raspberry tea cake recipe, I’ve shaken up my usual lemon and more lemon flavour pattern to introduce the humble raspberry, king of the berries!! To make these cupcakes even better, comes the addition of delicious coconut, resulting in a truly delectable morning tea treat!!

Even better? The recipe says “put all ingredients in a bowl and mix.” You can have a batch of these babies in the oven in five minutes. Yes, yes and yes. Too easy….too delicious!!!

I used this recipe from BBC Food network:

Ingredients

175g self-raising flour
140g caster sugar
50g desiccated coconut
140g butter, softened
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 tbsp milk
140g raspberries, fresh or frozen

Method

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with deep paper cases or a 15-hole bun tin with cake cases. Tip all the cake ingredients except the raspberries into a bowl and beat for 1-2 mins until light and fluffy. Gently fold in the raspberries.
Divide the mixture between the cases and bake for 18-20 mins (add a couple of extra mins for deep cases), until golden brown and firm to the touch. Leave to cool

Are you a raspberry lover? Do you have any raspberry recipes you’d like to share?

Coconut Lemon Cupcakes

How do you make a lemon cake even more delicious!? With the addition of coconut!!!! Arrg, these are mind blowing – I thoroughly suggest you give them a whirl!!

I made these on a rainy Sunday with some Belle and Sebastian pumping and my little helper Dash assisting (by assisting I mean yelling and whining, but he was adorable nonetheless!!). They’re really moist with the addition of coconut milk. I will be making these again!!

Here is the recipe – I adapted it from this one at Serious Eats. I added lemon rind for an additional flavour, but you can leave the lemon out if you would prefer plain coconut.

Ingredients

250grams unsalted butter, very soft
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut milk
1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut flakes
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Rind of one lemon

For Frosting

1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons coconut milk
Additional coconut flakes for decorating

Method

Preheat over to 180 degrees Line 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Whisk butter, sugar, and salt in large bowl until creamy and light. Use an electric mixer to whisk in eggs, one at time, until combined. Whisk in 2/3 cup coconut milk, lemon rind and 1/2 cup coconut.
Add flour and baking powder to the bowl and then whisk until just combined. Spoon batter into cups and bake until just set, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before icing.
To make icing, stir confectioners’ sugar and remaining 2 tablespoons coconut milk in bowl until smooth. Adjust with more sugar or milk to achieve a thick glaze consistency. Add a drop of vanilla or coconut flavoring if desired.
Spoon icing over cupcakes and sprinkle with coconut flakes.