The Cupcake Files

Ok. I'm obsessed with cupcakes. Everywhere I go, I'm always checking out cupcake shops. But recently I've been thinking so much about just baking my own. The Flour Shoppe in Ottawa makes a strawberry butter cream icing which is to die for.   It is the palest shade of pink, the butter is smooth and creamy (and none of that greasy-lard like film left in your mouth that you sometimes get: i.e. Isobel's) and they have just the perfect hint of sweetness from the strawberry flavour.

Now I'm thinking ... I can make that. It can't be that hard. So I decided to give it a try on my own. I googled a number of different recipes for both butter cream and strawberry butter cream. They run the gamut from uber-complicated (Martha Stewart I'm looking at you) to uber-simple (adding a dollup of strawberry preserves to butter cream resulting in a revolting Pepto Bismol colour). Mine was somewhere in between. Here is my attempt.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Butter Cream Icing

Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup boiling water
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix cocoa and boiling water in a small bowl. Let cool to room temperature.
Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Add cocoa mixture and stir till smooth.
Line muffin cups with papers or grease. Fill to 2/3 full. Bake for 16-20 minutes at 375°F until springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Do not overbake.

I found the cake somewhat dry but it had really good chocolate flavour. I used salted butter so did not add the additional salt called for in the recipe. I made mini and medium sized cupcakes and only cooked them for 16 minutes; they probably could have been taken out of the oven after 14 or 15 minutes, which is probably why they were kind of dry.

Strawberry Butter Cream Icing

3/4 cup butter at room temperature
1-1/2 cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons cream or milk
4-5 fresh strawberries, pureed

Beat butter until fluffy and add sugar and vanilla. Continue to beat; slowly add cream/milk until desired consistency is reached.
Add the strawberries and adjust taste with additional butter/sugar as needed. Beat till smooth.

My mistake in making the icing was that the strawberry puree was cold and when I added it to the basic butter cream, it congealed the butter somewhat. The strawberries should be at least at room temperature if not slightly warmer. In the end, I had to use the immersion blender to smooth out the icing but as you can see, it was still an inconsistent colour. Because the strawberry puree was liquidy (ya, its a word! look it up!), it made the icing very soft. It was best to be kept refrigerated. The strawberry flavour was really really good, though. Just like fresh sweet strawberries.

Everyone liked them and thought they were good despite the slightly off-putting colour. Also, I'm only just learning to using the piping bag, so between my inexerience and the extremely soft icing they were a bit odd looking. But taste is the most important -- and that was a definite success!