We’ve had the best weekend! I really wanted to tell you about it today but I had too many photos to upload and edit so I’m going to push it off until tomorrow. (Hint: it involves a party, a visit to a terrific bakery, and consumption of insane amounts of sugar)
Instead, today I thought I’d share these fresh strawberry cupcakes. I am still yearning for spring, and just as March is about to roll in and I think we *just* might be heading in that direction, we wake up to 2+ inches of snow today. I think it’s Mother Nature’s way of reminding me to be patient for a few more weeks 🙂
The cupcakes were a treat for my mom, the ultimate strawberry cupcake fan. It’s a pretty regular occurrence that I call my mom and offer to give her whatever I happen to be baking that day. Strawberry cupcakes are the one thing I know she’ll never turn down. I’ve made one or two variations on this idea in the past, but never with a strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream – it’s one type of frosting I don’t make very often (and have struggled with in the past) so I took this opportunity to practice.
If you’ve never made Swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC), it’s basically a really buttery, smooth (but not too sweet) frosting that pipes beautifully on cupcakes. It’s made with just 3 ingredients – egg whites, sugar and butter – plus whatever flavoring you choose. The only tricky thing about it is that the addition of the butter often leads to the frosting looking curdled. Continued beating almost always solves the problem. In this recipe, the frosting again may again look curdled after adding the strawberry puree but have faith – it will come together if you let your mixture work its magic. The result is worth it – a silky pink frosting that is definitely among my favorite SMBC flavors to date. If I have any complaint about this recipe it’s with the cupcake, not the frosting. Don’t get me wrong, the cupcakes taste great, but they bake up with flat tops that spread more than they rise. Obviously, as long as you are covering with frosting it’s not a big deal but it’s definitely a cupcake pet peeve of mine.
Strawberry Cupcakes
from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes (originally seen on Annie’s Eats)
Cupcakes
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature
2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries
Frosting
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries (8 oz.), rinsed, hulled and coarsely chopped
4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature
To make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs and the egg white, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternately with the milk, mixing only until incorporated. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a rubber spatula.
Fill each well of the cupcake pans about 3/4-full with the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cupcake pans to a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pans to the rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting: Puree the strawberries in your food processor until completely smooth. Add the egg whites and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer (or any heatproof bowl) and set it over a pan of simmering water. Heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar has dissolved – you can test with your fingertips, if the mixture feels grainy, it’s not ready yet.
Attach the bowl to your stand mixer (or transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer if you used a separate bowl) fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture has cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes. (The bowl will be cool to the touch.)
Reduce the mixer to medium-low speed and add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time. Let each addition incorporate before adding the next. (The frosting may look soupy or curdled once you add the butter – just keep beating and it will come together.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the strawberry puree to the bowl. Beat until combined – the mixture will probably look curdled again when you add the strawberries, keep beating!)
Pipe the buttercream onto the cupcakes (I used a large star tip), and garnish with extra strawberries, if desired.
Yields 34 cupcakes (I made 1/3 of the recipe & got 10)
Yum! I made these last summer when I first got the cupcake book. I have to agree–the cupcakes themselves are just okay, but the buttercream is fabulous.
Glad to hear you enjoyed your weekend! Strawberries have been making their way into local stores here… I may have to make some cupcakes soon.
These were a big hit with me! The cupcakes were moist and had a good strawberry flavor. Definitely looking forward to the warm weather too! The frosting was good when combined with the cupcake but a little buttery for me.
Thanks as always for sharing!
I’ve made these before and agree – they are a nice strawberry cupcake option for the strawberry cupcake lover (in my house, this is my daughter). You cannot beat Martha’s SMBC in any variation – it’s so good!
these look delicious, I love the addition of the slice of strawberry atop the buttercream too! Yum!
I’m not a huge cupcake fan, but these look delicious! I can almost taste that buttercream 🙂
These look like little pieces of heaven!
i totally understand about the cupcake pet peeve of yours. it is one of mine too. Your frosting look delicious! I am glad that you attempted the temperamental SMBC!
I love the flecks of strawberry in the icing. I have never made a Swiss meringue buttercream so I am going to follow your instructions and try it.
yummy beautifully done delicious looking cupcakes Tracey
Awww! These remind me that Spring is right around the corner!
Your cupcakes look beautiful! I love the fresh strawberries…such an authentic taste. I can’t wait to make these.
These are delightful! I love how you can see the bits of fresh strawberry in the frosting. Its a “must do” for me. I had a great weekend as well. After 4 attempts I make the perfect macarons! I don’t have them published on my blog yet but soon….editing, editing, editing…
Your cupcakes look yum … loved the presentation ! good work
you can view some of my dishes on http://kitchensojourn.blogspot.com ! i would be really happy if you follow it
These look great, I love Strawberry cupcakes! Love the pictures as well!
These paper cups are cute.. and decoration of these cupcakes is just amazing 🙂
I love the tall sliced strawberry as the topper it look delicious! Perfect for spring.
So pretty! I love the chunks of strawberry in the buttercream frosting. Perfect for Spring, once it finally rolls around.
These cupcakes could not look cuter! I doesn’t get better than Swiss meringue buttercream.
This looks like Marta Stewart’s strawberry cupcake recipe, and yes it bakes up flat because of all the water in the fruit it says to add. You’ll get better results with it next time if you strain your strawberries and only add the pulp. Use juice in your Swiss meringue. Same strawberry flavor in the cake, it bakes up much better, and it’s a more economical use of the fruit.
Great pics though! (psst…You should probably cite your recipe source if you are using and re-posting a famous recipe. Disregard this if you did that in another section of your blog that I did not see).
@Anonymous – Thanks for the tips, will keep them in mind if I make the recipe again. I did cite the source as MS Cupcakes – it’s right below the recipe title.
Yum, those look like the perfect cupcake to celebrate spring with!
Yummmm! We have loads of strawberries so this would be an awesome thing to make!!
Jess : )
These look so pretty! And, very tasty, too. I’m especially intrigued by the strawberry SMB… love it!
I’ve made these a while ago, loved them. They tasted awesome, and that SMBC.. YUMM!!
I just made these-The smbc is amazing! The cupcakes are good-but, I just got my Kitchenaid mixer I have wanted forever and every cupcake I have made from scratch comes out with a “cornbread” texture and very hvy. I have tried various Martha stewart ones. The icings come out great. Any pointers why this may be or are homemade way different than box cupcakes???
Over all-these are good flavor!
These look great! My post today is Pink Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream, made with fresh strawberries. I typically cream cheese frosting made with strawberries, but did buttercream this time. Yum
I made these last strawberry season with some local Ponchatoula strawberries and I just loved them!! I liked both the cupcakes and the frosting, but I do have to agree that this is one of the best flavored swiss buttercreams I’ve ever made.
The cupcakes are absolutely gorgeous little cupcakes! They look so cute.
I can’t wait to make these for my family. I hope mine turn out as good as yours. Great strawberry cupcake recipe!!
This is definitely an amazing and yummy cupcake recipe! I’ll be making these on wednesday paired with hot tea. 🙂 Thanks!
I just made this frosting tonight, it was Delicious! Thanks for this recipe!
I have used your(MS’s) Strawberry SMBC several times. It is so good I try to find excuses to make it.
I had an idea for the flat cupcake tops…
I had a similar problem with my muffins at work. Less batter and they barely fill the cup. More and they spill out and are flat and sad looking. I ended up tweaking my oven temperature up 25 degrees (shortening my bake time of course) This helped them “activate” and rise quicker and form a bit more of a crust to hold it all in. The “crusts” would split a little as it expanded but frosting would cover that. You could also try a higher temp and then lowering it halfway through if you are having problems with them browning without being cooked in the middle. Again, this was muffins and not cupcakes but they are leavened in the same manner.
Hello,
I have made this buttercream 3 times now… The first time it turned out great! The last two times it has come out curdled. I kept mixing, and it never came together. Any idea what I did wrong? Or how I can fix it? Thanks!!
@Anon – Swiss Meringue Buttercream can definitely be finicky! Here’s a great post by my friend Shawnda with some ideas for rescuing curdled buttercream:
http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/7640
I am going to attempt this recipe. Now I am new at trying something like this. When you say curddled does that mean when part of the patter has like little chunks in it and still a little watery?
@Crazysparkles – Yes, exactly! It just looks really gross, almost like cottage cheese. If you follow the link in the comment I left above yours, you’ll see a picture of curdled frosting. Also, she has tips if yours curdles and you are trying to rescue it. Good luck 🙂
Hello,
I just came across your recipe from the Pink Chalk blog. I was wondering if you ever made the cupcake recipe into a cake? I really prefer cakes to cupcakes, although cupcakes are certainly much prettier! 🙂
I hope you still read new comments on older posts!
Cheers,
Nanci
do you think the smbc recipe adding fresh strawberries could also work well if fresh bananas will be used? i’ve searched online and couldn’t find anyone using bananas with smbc recipe.
@Nanci – Sadly, I never did try to make the recipe into a cake. Always so many things on my to-do list sometimes I forget to go back and tackle the old recipes! As a general rule you can usually convert cupcakes to cake and vice-versa, so I can’t imagine there would be an issue but can’t say with 100% certainty. If you give it a try, please let me know how it goes!
@Wilma – Hmmm, I don’t think I’ve ever seen banana smbc either. In theory I think it could work, but I’m not sure you could get the banana puree smooth enough to make your frosting smooth. Does that make sense? The banana puree would almost certainly be thicker than strawberry puree as well so the consistency would be affected. I guess long story short, I’m not sure.
I did a quick Google search and found this for you – the blogger used banana pudding instead of just bananas to make her smbc. Another possible idea…
http://www.americancupcakeabroad.com/cupcakes/momofuku-banana-cupcakes
your frosting directions is awfully confusing