2.11.2009

Strawberry Valentine Cupcakes

Strawberry Valentine Cupcakes


Did You Know? The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, I thought pretty pink cupcakes seemed like the most appropriate post. Always loving the strawberry cupcakes made from a box mix, I've been wanting to make homemade ones for some time now. When I saw the awesome Valentine's decorating accessories at Michael's, I knew this would be the perfect time to use the already red strawberry to dye these soon-to-be exploded with pink cupcakes.

Like most girls, baking and decorating cupcakes is one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen. The limitations are endless, and you always end up with something pretty irresistible. Adorning most of my life in pink, why stop at the cupcake? Tucked inside dainty, heart-stamped cups, frosted with candy-sweet icing, and topped with an array of sprinkles, these cupcakes will make any girl swoon.




Strawberry Valentine Cupcakes


I love mixing and matching various patterns with an underlying theme, that being Valentine's Day here. To make all the same toppings or designs can get pretty repetitive, and when I get going, it's hard to refrain myself from trying to outdo the previously frosted cupcake.

As for the taste? I tried a cupcake without frosting first, and the strawberry flavor was there, but very faint. I may add a teaspoon of strawberry extract next time, or play around with the ingredients a bit. The color was so pretty though - a pale pink hue dotted with strawberry flecks, so natural and so satisfying. My second cupcake, a frosted and decorated one, was everything I had hoped for. The strawberry frosting was so flavorful, and definately made up for the cake alone. These are for sure my favorite cupcakes to date, but like I said, I'm partial to anything pink.

Strawberry Valentine Frosting


Strawberry Valentine Cupcakes
Makes around 20 cupcakes

2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup natural cane sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup puréed strawberries, fresh or frozen, thawed
1/2 cup soy milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with paper cups, and set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together remaining ingredients. Add this to the dry, beating with a wire whisk.

Pour into prepared cupcake tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until done when tested with a toothpick.


Strawberry Frosting
I used a combination of frostings. I made this recipe, which didn't set up quite as I had hoped, so I folded it into a separate confectioners frosting (shown below).

1 (16 oz.) box confectioners sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) vegan margarine or shortening (I used Earth Balance)
1/4 cup of the meringue frosting previously made, plus additional to fold in.


Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, margarine/shortening and 1/4 cup of meringue icing until fluffy. Add more meringue icing as needed. The frosting should be thick at this point, but you will fold in additional meringue icing to lighten it up.

Once you finish creaming the sugar, butter, and meringue icing, fold in another 1/2 cup or so of the meringue icing, until you reach your desired consistency.

*If this all seems too confusing to you, by all means use your own frosting recipe (or the frosting given in the original recipe). I'm sure just folding in some strawberry puree to a buttercream recipe would work fine also. I just didn't want to waste the meringue icing I had put together.

Strawberry Valentine Cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day!


32 comments:

  1. aww so pretty! I would love to get a box of these for valentine's day!

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  2. Hayley, I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how incredibly gorgeous those cupcakes are - well done!!

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  3. Super cute decorating!

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  4. Pink! Love the cupcakes and your designs. These are so cheerful, plus I bet the strawberry flavor is delicious.

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  5. These cupcakes are GORGEOUS!!! Pink is my favorite color =)

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  6. Those are just stunning! What a great photo at the top of the post. And I bet they taste fantastic, too--definitely enough to win your sweetie's heart!

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  7. I love that pale pink, your cup cakes look adorable! Any reason you used soy milk and not dairy milk?

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  8. pigpigscorner: Thanks, but I'm guessing these wouldn't travel well through the mail :)

    VeggieGirl: Thanks so much, you're always so kind.

    Ashley: Thanks!

    Phoo-D: Strawberry is my favorite, and the frosting takes it over the edge.

    Shelby: Pinks the best!

    Ricki: Thanks so much, and yes they tasted great!

    veggie belly: I just avoid dairy for the most part, but I'm sure you could use it if that's what you drink.

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  9. These look so pretty. Such a sweet way of decorating! Wish I had talent like you!

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  10. they are just lovely. nice work on the decorating!

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  11. Wow your decorations are beautiful! (And by the way, so is John Krasinski). I have never been a master decorator and usually just end up slathering the top with frosting haha. I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day :)

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  12. Adorable! I love pink, and who wouldn't want to eat these up?

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  13. well you sure can decorate cupcakes waaaay better than I. I am so bad at it. I love the color of the cake. And I want to try that frosting as well.
    Such stunning photos my dear!

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  14. These are so cute! One of my goals is to bake and decorate a cake...or cupcakes.

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  15. These are so cute! I love strawberry cake, you don't see it that often though.

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  16. These look so beautiful and festive! You did a great job decorating them.

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  17. What a cool little fact about Verona! I am digging these pink beauties. :)

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  18. Your pink cupcakes are absolutely adorable!!! After seeing yours, I want to play with pink icing and sprinkles too. :-)

    Have a wonderful Valentine's Day and enjoy that cupcake love!

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  19. Awesome cupcakes! Stop by and check out the ones I posted from the fun cookbook called "Hey Cupcake" they are adorable.

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  20. How colorful and festive! I'm sure anyone would be thrilled to be your Valentine. ;)

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  21. Your collection of cupcakes is so adorable and fun! Who doesn't love pink strawberry cupcakes? Swoooon!.... :-)

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  22. These are so cute! I love how bright and festive they are. I'd be your valentine! :) lol!

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  23. Your blog is super. So are your photographies. They make me hungry. I have spent a nice moment when seeing them. Thanks a lot.

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  24. Thank you for the comments on my site, and the compliments. Please check back...I have you bookmarked now! Happy Valentine's Day to you, too.

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  25. So cute and looks expertly prepared. Not to sound cheesy, but it looks like a lot of love went into those cupcakes :)

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  26. Wow those are so cool. I too used to love the boxed strawberry cake mixes growing up. I've never tried making a strawberry cake from scratch though. Love the over-the-top color colors!

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  27. I haven't decorated cupcakes in quite some time.
    Love all the shades of pink you've used.

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  28. I've been looking for a strawberry recipe! Thank you!

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