Strawberry Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe

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At the height of spring, after the long winter days, strawberries just make me happy. These Strawberry Vanilla Cupcakes are all that I can think about. Getting out to the pick-your-own farm and collecting a few flats of these ruby little gems for baking and munching on. It just makes me happy.

Strawberry Vanilla Cupcakes

If you want to harness that taste of spring, you need strawberry puree to infuse this recipe with. It is pretty simple to make a strawberry puree, all you need is
2 cups of fresh strawberries, washed, stemmed, hulled, and sliced into quarters. Take those berries and top them with 1 Tbsp of sugar. Some people refer to this as macerating the strawberries.

What does it mean to macerate strawberries?

When you macerate something, you soften it by soaking it in a liquid, often while you’re cooking or preparing food. To macerate strawberries, all you have to do is sprinkle sugar on them, which draws out their juices so they become soft and sweet and deliciously saucy. You can do this up to a day in advance, and even use it over shortcake or pound cake.

Can you macerate frozen strawberries?

You can macerate frozen strawberries – sort of! The process is a little different since the berries will already be soft when they come to room temperature. It really isn’t idea. as the process of freezing starts breaking down the membranes. Osmosis is the movement of liquid across a semi-permeable membrane. This includes adding sugar to strawberries, which causes osmosis and removes water from the fruit’s interior. This process can be used to create foods like macerated strawberries, jellies and jams, and help extend the shelf life of the fruits.

Strawberry Vanilla Cupcakes

You will need:

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter ( room temp )
Strawberry Puree*
2 eggs
2 eggs whites
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put cupcake liners into regular sized muffin tins.
Puree the maceratedc strawberries in a food processor set to the side.
You will need to sift the all purpose flour into the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment.
Add the sugar and baking powder into the flour and mix on low just until combined.
Add the butter and strawberry puree to the flour and mix on low until combined.
In a second bowl whisk together the eggs, egg whites and vanilla extract.
Add egg mixture to the flour mixture mix on low speed.
Mix on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute.
Scoop batter into cupcake liners only 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes, until using a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan.
Place on a cooling rack allow to cool for 1 hour before frosting.