Strawberry Cupcakes for Daddy! |

My hubby went hunting all weekend, so the girls and I were home alone…and I do mean home! I couldn’t drive since I was taking some pain meds from my out-patient surgery last week, so we have been in the house since last Tuesday!!! AAAGGGHHHH!!! That was hard with a 2 and 3 year old! And since it’s been almost 100 degrees every day, they’ve only been able to play outside in the mornings. And it was so hard to contain them in the house…see, we had a new playset/swing set put up in the backyard on Monday, so all they wanted to do was climb, slide and swing…which meant…Mommy had to be right there with them! And…heat + pain meds + not feeling good = a Mommy that doesn’t want to be outside in the heat! But we got through it and they destroyed the house and playroom all at the same time! So last night after they went to bed, I cleaned. Then, this morning when the Princess woke up, she told me that she HAD to make strawberry cupcakes for Daddy today, since he was coming home! Yes, she IS my child! So I tried to convince her that we could make lemon cupcakes for Daddy…since I told him we would and they are his favorite…but she had her mind made up, so that is what we did! (Good thing we had a bunch of strawberries that needed to be eaten before they went bad!)

So I searched the internet for a yummy sounding Strawberry cupcake recipe. The first one I found was on the Martha Stewart website and it was from the owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes…so how could you go wrong with that?! I made a few changes to make it my own, so this is what we did…

Chopped up the strawberries and pureed them in the blender.

Then mixed a little together with milk and vanilla…

Now for the dry ingredients…

Cream the butter and sugar together…

Add the eggs…

Add half the flour mixture…

Add the strawberry milk mixture and the rest of the flour…

And you have strawberry cupcake batter! Now you can either bake a cake or make cupcakes like we did!

Hmmm…wonder whose little finger that is?!?! The girls were so happy that they helped make Daddy’s cupcakes, I had to include a pic of them!

Yes, we were having a jammie day! So into the oven the cupcakes went and 20 minutes later…

Out came the strawberry, sweet smellin’ cupcakes! Now, while they were baking, we were making something else…frosting!!! The girls’ favorite part of the cupcakes!

Now, doesn’t that look yummy?!?!

And my idea was to make some chocolate ganache to add on top…since I love chocolate covered strawberries…why not chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes?!

I used milk chocolate, but you can use semi-sweet or even white chocolate. Now for the fun part…putting it ALL together!

And since the girls didn’t want chocolate on theirs, I was only allowed to put it on half of them…

Now, who could resist that?!?!?!

This little Princess couldn’t!

So we were set and ready for Daddy to come home! And when he did…the girls ran out to meet him at his truck and gave lots of hugs and kisses! Then, brought him inside to show him what they had made for him! I think it was the best part of his weekend…love from his girls!

What a great ending to a fun and challenging weekend! Here’s the recipe (with my little changes) if you would like to try it.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients

2/3 cup whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed (I used fresh)
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tablespoons cake flour, sifted after measuring
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 large egg whites, room temperature

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside.
Place strawberries in a small food processor; process until pureed. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree, add a few more strawberries if necessary or save any extra puree for frosting; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended.
With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended.
Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer muffin tin to a wire rack and let cupcakes cool completely in tin before icing.

Makes 20 muffins.

Strawberry Frosting

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole fresh strawberries
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
Pinch of coarse salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted (add more if you want it thicker to pipe)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, cream and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.

Chocolate Ganache

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
6 Tbsp butter