Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

This weekend one my very best friends came to visit. She is one of those rare people that I instantly clicked with from the very first conversation. We have so much in common; a desire for things sweet and savory, the ability to shop till we drop, and a TV lineup longer than we'd like to admit. I've only known her for a year and she already feels like family.

It was her birthday earlier in the week and since I couldn't be there to celebrate with her I thought I'd make her some belated cupcakes. It's been a while since I've baked after all, and a birthday is a perfect excuse to tie an apron around my waist.

The hubby got me a cupcake calendar for Christmas this year. It's adorable and every month has a new cupcake recipe glossing the pages. Instead of using the one for February, I skipped all the way to June, knowing they would be the perfect cupcakes for my friend.

I can't tell you how amazing this frosting was. It definitely stole the show and we devoured these cupcakes in a matter of 24 hours. Luckily, I saved the little that was left in the mixing bowl for those middle of the night cookie-slathered-with-frosting cravings.

Ingredients 
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

For the frosting
3 tablespoons strawberries, fresh or frozen, pureed
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A dash of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in eggs one at a time and then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed sugar and butter. Mix well. Stir in milk until batter is smooth. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool cupcakes in pan. Transfer cupcakes to wire rack and let cool completely.  Cupcakes must be completely cool before topping with icing.

For the frosting
Blend 1 cup butter and salt on medium high until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add powdered sugar and blend well. Add vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of strawberry puree. Blend well. Frost the cupcakes and top with sprinkles if desired.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

The days are getting shorter. I can see the change happening gradually as the sun begins to set earlier and earlier every day. I'm craving pumpkin donuts and warm cozy blankets and embracing this fall as if it might be our last. Who knows where we'll end up for residency and if it's somewhere down south (finger crossed!) we might not have a fall again.

That's why I'm sharing my first pumpkin/fall recipe with you today. I couldn't wait any longer to break out the pumpkin! As we speak (or you read), there are five cans in my pantry just waiting for their debut.  

We had a birthday celebration recently for one of our friends and the prospect to bake something made me very excited! Oh to bake, to bake again. How I've missed my measuring cups and spoons. I searched through all my recent pins and dog-eared recipes (pinning is much easier than flipping through a magazine these days, who knew) and was overwhelmed with so many choices. Deprivation. I wanted to bake everything!

Then I remembered a day I was waiting in line to pay for groceries, flipping through Taste of Home's recent magazine of fall recipes. I wrote down the name of these cupcakes and suddenly I remembered them- light blub! I knew these would be perfect.

They are so moist and flavorful, practically melting in your mouth as you bite into one. And the frosting- I stuck my finger in the bowl as I was making it and felt my eyes go wide. The balance of spice and sweetness is spot on- delicious! Too bad it's not nutritious. :)

I tried to frost these with my fancy cupcake kit- piping bag and frosting tips, but it turns out baby girl isn't quite ready for me to devote entirely too much time in the kitchen. I had to settle for a plain old butter knife during one of her naps. Not that anyone cared. They were gone in minutes!

Source: Taste of Home
Servings: 2 dozen

3/4 cup butter, softened
2-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup buttermilk

Frosting:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin. Combine the flour, pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and ginger; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

2. Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

3. For frosting, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; beat until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Refrigerate leftovers.

Sweet Treats Week #1: Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

Welcome to "Sweet Treats Week" on This Woman Cooks! Every day this week will be dedicated to some kind of sweet treat, including several guest posts and a giveaway for that sweet tooth you're bound to have by the end! If all goes well, I'm thinking there will be plenty more weekly themes in the future. Kick back and keep an eye on your blood sugar, you're in for a sugar high!

You are about to see an overload of cupcake pictures.

I couldn't stop.

I was so proud of my little creations that I took well over 50 pictures. I repositioned them, set them on ramekins for some cool angle shots, hopped onto the table, hovered over on a dining chair...

I was a crazy person on Friday, August 19th at 10:30pm. That's not when these pictures were taken, obviously. This was at 11:00am the next morning. But the night before I was a raving lunatic. Okay, I might be exaggerating. Ahem. I was a little crazy. In my pajamas, pacing the kitchen back and forth muttering to myself about frosting. Sorry Twitter and Facebook friends. You were the only ones around to talk to!

The first batch of frosting I made was a strawberry one. I originally wanted to do strawberry vanilla cupcakes. The strawberry icing was coming along together well, until I scooped it into the piping bag. It was a mess. No pretty ringlets around my cupcakes. I was very sad. Then I got angry. Frustrated. Confused! Panicked. I told myself to take a break and worry about it the next day. But I couldn't go to sleep, not without finding the perfect frosting recipe. Hence the pacing and sticky fingers at 11:30pm.  

I scoured the web for ideas when I remembered Jessica's insane amount of cupcake recipes. I decided to try her vanilla buttercream. Oh. My. Diabetes. I may never use another frosting again. Thanks for saving me yet again, Jessica. :)

Vanilla Buttercream
Source: How Sweet It Is
Serving: frosting for 15-20 cupcakes

2 sticks of butter, softened
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of milk, if needed

Cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixture until completely smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low speed, add in powdered sugar slowly. Gradually increase mixer speed and add vanilla, then beat for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl. If frosting is too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached If it’s too thin, add sugar gradually until it thickens. Frost cupcakes and top with sprinkles.

Cupcakes
Source: Cupcakes with Sprinkles
Servings: 12-15 cupcakes

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup of Butter, room temperature
1 cup of Sugar
1/2 heaping Tablespoon Baking Powder
2 large Eggs
1/4 cup Whole Milk
1/4 cup Plain Yogurt1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with cupcake liners. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, and baking powder. Sift twice. With an electric mixer on medium speed, add butter 1 Tablespoon at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, yogurt and vanilla extract. Add to the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Do not overbeat! Fill lined cupcake tins approx. 2/3 full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Start checking at 15 minutes. Don't over bake or they will be dry.
  
Be sure to check back every day this week, there will be a new sweet treat waiting for you!