Mini Strawberry Cupcakes

If you manage to get your hands on some just-picked strawberries, make these cupcakes. They perfectly showcase the ripe strawberry flavor and look pretty cute too. If you only have supermarket strawberries, you can still make these, but they won't be nearly as flavorful, as the strongest flavor comes from the strawberries, which are not only baked into the cupcakes but also pureed and folded into the frosting. The better the berries, the better the cupcakes.

Mini Strawberry Cupcakes (adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)
Makes about 120 mini cupcakes
Printable version

Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 large whole eggs plus 1 egg white
1 cup milk
2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries (about 20)
2 batches Strawberry Meringue Buttercream (single batch recipe below)
Strawberry slices for garnish (optional)
Red decorating sugar (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line mini muffin pans with paper liners.

Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt.

In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy.

Add whole eggs and egg white one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, and scraping down bowl as needed.

Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with milk. Beat until well combined.

Fold in chopped strawberries.

Using a small cookie scoop, add one scoop of batter to each mini muffin cup. (I experimented with two scoops and 1 1/2 scoops, but one scoop works best.)

Bake one pan at a time, turning pan halfway through, until cupcake tops spring back when touched lightly, about 11 to 13 minutes.

Transfer pan to wire rack, and let cool about 5 minutes before removing cupcakes. Transfer cupcakes directly to wire rack to cool completely. Re-line pans and repeat with remaining batter.

Once cupcakes are completely cool, decorate with strawberry meringue buttercream, and top with strawberry slices and red sugar, if desired.

Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries (8 ounces), rinsed and hulled
4 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

Preparation

Puree strawberries in food processor.

Combine egg whites and sugar in bowl of stand mixer, and set bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until sugar has completely dissolved.

Attach bowl to stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, and whisk, starting on low and slowly increasing to medium-high, until stiff peaks form and bowl is cool to the touch, about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time.

Once all the butter has been added, scrape down bowl with rubber spatula and switch to paddle attachment. Continue beating on low speed for another 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles.

Add pureed strawberries, and beat until combined.

Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days. Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Happy 4th of July! Are you watching any fireworks tonight?


P.S. I added these to Lisa's Sweets for a Saturday.

Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies

If you read many blogs, I'm sure you have already seen these strawberry-shortcake cookies. I remember seeing them on Beantown Baker; Sweetly Serendipity; Fun and Fearless in Beantown; and Travel, Wine, and Dine! Recently, Emily from A Cambridge Story gave them a makeover by adding some oatmeal and Greek yogurt to them. I knew that if so many of my favorite bloggers were making these cookies, they had to be good.

So on a Friday evening when I found myself with a pound of strawberries and a dinner to go to, I whipped up a batch of these cookies to bring along. They taste like strawberry shortcake but are less fussy and take less time to throw together. Not to mention that they're much more portable than strawberry shortcake.

Heading to a barbecue this weekend and don't want to show up empty-handed? These are the cookies to make.

Strawberry-Shortcake Cookies (adapted from MarthaStewart.com)

Ingredients

12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (2 cups)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpat mats.

Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a small bowl or measuring cup, and set aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons granulated sugar in a large bowl.

Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, or rub it in with your fingers, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Stir in the cream, and then stir in the strawberry mixture. The strawberry juices will help the dough come together.

Using a medium cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them evenly apart.

Sprinkle with sanding sugar, and bake one sheet at a time, turning halfway through, until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Transfer each pan to a wire rack, and let cool about 5 minutes before transferring cookies directly onto rack. Then let cookies cool completely or serve warm.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day.

Are you going to any barbecues or parties today or tomorrow? What are you bringing?

4th Of July Recap

How was your 4th of July this year? Did you do anything special? Make anything special?

I really wanted to go to the Cape. My family goes every summer, and my mom usually tries to book something at the beginning of July, so it's a tradition for me. Unfortunately, I had to work on Saturday and Monday, so there wasn't really enough time to get down there... and a good amount of my free time probably would have been spent sitting in traffic had we gone.

The good thing is that I was really excited about working because I'm at the new Flour location right now. A new bakery is a pretty fun place to be, so that helped balance my disappointment about not making it to the Cape. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to get down there in October!

So yesterday, we headed to Jeff's parents' house for a BBQ, and I made the fruited-cheesecake flag you might have already seen if you caught my post yesterday. The recipe is from Martha Stewart, which you may have already guessed.  Perfect rows, categorized berries... it really just screams "Martha," or at least it does to me.

Fruited-Cheesecake Flag (adapted from Martha Stewart Living, July 2008)

Ingredients

Nonstick spray
3 cups all-purpose flour
Coarse salt
12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) blackberries
8 3/4 ounces (2 cups) blueberries
1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced lengthwise into thirds
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
12 ounces (3 cups) raspberries

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a 13-by-18-inch rimmed sheet pan with nonstick spray. (I used a 12-by-17-inch sheet pan.) Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Coat parchment with spray.

Sift flour and 1 3/4 teaspoons salt into a bowl. Cream butter with a mixer on medium-high speed, occasionally scraping bowl, until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add light brown sugar, beating until very pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture all at once, and beat on low speed until just incorporated.

Transfer dough to sheet pan, and press dough evenly into pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.

Bake dough until entire surface is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in sheet pan on a wire rack. Raise oven temperature to 350 degrees.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed, occasionally scraping bowl, until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Scrape bowl, then mix in lemon zest, vanilla and almond extracts, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Scrape bowl, then beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated. The mixture should be very smooth; scrape bowl as necessary. Pour over crust, and spread into an even layer.

Bake until filling is set, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely in sheet pan on rack. Refrigerate until firm and cold, about 4 hours (or overnight).

Use parchment to lift out cheesecake. Fill a tall container with hot water, and dip knife in it. Dry well, and use knife to trim sides of cake and cut cheesecake into 48 squares, redipping and wiping knife clean between cuts. (Or have boyfriend/significant other carry out above step while you wash and prep berries.)

Place a clean sheet of parchment in the bottom of the sheet pan, or use a large serving dish. (I don't own a 12-by-17-inch serving dish, so I had to make do with the pan.

Transfer the squares to the pan. (I followed Martha's directions and decorated my strawberry rows before sliding them into the pan, but the confectioners' sugar doesn't hold up well. I had to keep re-sugaring the strawberries, so I think it would make more sense to get one of those little sifter spoons and carefully sift the sugar over the strawberries just before serving.)

Decorate top left squares (3 down and 4 across), placing a blackberry in the center of each square and circling it with blueberries. Place 4 or 5 raspberries on each square in every other row, beginning with top row.

Cover the rest of the squares with 3 strawberry slices each. Just before serving, carefully dust strawberries with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately. The cake can be refrigerated overnight, but again, I recommend doing this before dusting the strawberries with confectioners' sugar.

What was your favorite thing you ate this weekend? If I'm not counting the cheesecake, I really enjoyed a chicken salad with cabbage and crunchy noodles at the BBQ -- not to mention ribs!

Happy 4th Of July!