It's berry season here in Washington and I love strawberries. I drove across the river to Rainier, Oregon this week to pick up a flat at Crawford's Berries n' Cream's stand. They sell the Shuksan variety. The berries are nice and sweet, meaning you don't even have to add a lot of sugar to them. I also bought a half flat of raspberries at the same time and made some delicious Strawberry Raspberry Sauce. (Just add 1/2 a cup of sugar and to about 4 cups of smashed berries, then boil down into a thick, gorgeous sauce.)
I had been searching for something yummy to do with the berries and had a bad day at work, so I decided to bake. Baking and de-boning chicken are two of my favorite things to do to relax. (I know it's strange. Don't give me that look.) Cupcakes sounded good to me and I had just bought a strawberry cake mix so I decided to kick it up.
I started by making a strawberry puree. I just hulled the berries and blended them until really smooth. I suggest crushing them a little bit before blending, just to make it easier. Then, boil the puree down for about 30 minutes. It will get slightly thicker and richer in flavor. I made the mistake of having too small of a saucepan and boiled it over on my stove. You don't want to see the mess I had to clean up. Did I mention I had a bad day?
I took the Strawberry cake mix, added eggs oil and strawberry puree and mixed it all together. Then I used an ice cream scoop to dish it into my lined cupcake tin and baked. The smell of the batter was so divine. It was such an intense strawberry blast. I decided I was going to make a Strawberry buttercream to top them. I know a basic buttercream recipe so I started there with butter, vanilla and powdered sugar. Somewhere after that, everything went wrong. (That bad day is back!) I worked at trying to make the frosting fluffier but as 11pm got closer, I decided to just put it in the fridge and go to the store and buy frosting in the morning. I am actually really glad I woke up late because all I did was dip the cupcakes into the "glaze" and they were delicious.
The glaze was thick enough to stay on top of the cupcake and wasn't too terribly sweet. It was also kinda beautiful. The color was so red and shiny. And the smell again, was phenomenal. I took these to work and set them on the counter. Every time the door opened, a waft of strawberry over took me. My boss said it was like walking into a strawberry field. (He had 3 but don't tell his wife.)
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes and Strawberry Glaze
Yields 16 cupcakes
1 box of Strawberry Cake Mix
1 cup Strawberry Puree
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
Mix until combined and bake at 350 for 18-23 minutes.
For the glaze:
1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
1 cup Strawberry Puree
3-4 cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
Beat the butter with about 1 cup of the sugar until smooth, add the vanilla and strawberry puree. Slowly add in the remaining powdered sugar until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
This is how I made mine, on accident, but I am sure you could leave the butter out and have a delicious glaze. You can see in my photos that the butter left speckles in my glaze. Baking and cooking is never perfect. You go with what you get and enjoy it anyway.
Got some extra Strawberry Puree? Add a bit of sugar or honey and spread it on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake in a 170 degree oven for 3-5 hours, until it's no longer sticky to the touch. And there you have your own fruit leather.
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