Strawberry Cupcakes

Last weekend was a baking special one for us with the new oven busy to the core. I suddenly felt that I should really bake my heart out and was up at an early hour to start it . I was organized a day earlier with the plans chalked out and ingredients collected and de-frozen a night earlier. Next morning I set to work on the batters and in no time various cakes and savories were going one by one inside my oven for aromatic outputs. So this week's posts will be focused on my baking experiences of the weekend.

 

My first choice was the strawberry cupcakes. I had some fresh strawberries in my refrigerator waiting for attention. So I had to turn these sweet strawberries into must-have desserts for the whole family, or dress them up in easy, delicious cakes.

No other fruit shout spring like these sweet, delectable strawberries  My family loves snacking on the delicately crunchy and juicy flesh of this pretty pink fruit. It is a rich pack its share of nutritional punch including several anti-oxidants too. Did you know this fruit is budget friendly especially during winter? So I buy it regularly during these days and try to make as many desserts and salads with it as possible.

 

So now you can bring on the explosion of tart/sweet juiciness by giving these strawberries a crunchy topping, a cushion of cobbler, or a blanket of flaky pastry. It doesn't get better, or easier, than a dessert or a cake that calls for berries and bakes up beautifully every time.

 

 

 

Another thing to note is that these cupcakes are just not plain pretty cupcakes. They have bite-sized strawberry pieces mixed in them that give you a heavenly feeling with every bite. I did not add any color in the batter because the strawberry puree gives it a pretty pink color on its own.

 

And now the recipe.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1/2 cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon  pure vanilla extract

1 cup strawberry puree

1 cup fresh strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup light sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

HOW TO MAKE:

 

1)  Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

 

2) In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla essence and strawberry puree. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.

 

3) In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda  and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. (This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking.) 

 

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough cakes will result. 

 

5) Divide the batter evenly among the 12 cupcake cases.

 

6)  Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

 

7) Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Can be stored for a few days at room temperature.