Strawberry Cupcakes With Macerated Strawberries And Peanut Brittle Food

STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with cupcake cases. Mix the flour and sugar together in a large bowl. In a large jug, whisk together the eggs, yogurt and melted butter. Gradually mix the wet ingredients into the dry until you have a smooth batter, then fold in the strawberries.
• Fill the prepared cases so they are about three-fourths full. Bake for 25-30 mins, or until golden and a skewer inserted into the middles comes out clean. Leave to cool.
• Meanwhile, make the icing. Beat the sugar and butter together until smooth and pale, then add the milk, vanilla and a little pink food colouring and beat until the icing is an even pale pink shade. Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle, then pipe in swirls onto the cooled cupcakes. Decorate each with a strawberry half or small strawberry, then serve.

REALLY REAL STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with 20 cupcake liners (for mini cupcakes, line 72 mini muffin tins).
• Grind strawberries into a fine powder using a coffee grinder or food processor. Whisk strawberry powder, all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.
• Beat butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in vanilla extract.
• Stir flour mixture, alternately with the milk, into butter mixture until just incorporated. Fill lined tins with cupcake batter.
• Bake in preheated oven until cupcakes spring back when gently touched with a fingertip or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 16 to 18 minutes for regular cupcakes, 8 to 10 minutes for mini cupcakes.

MACERATED STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• In a bowl combine all ingredients. Let stand in refrigerator for 2 hours.

MACERATED STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• Toss the strawberries in the simple syrup and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

REAL STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray cupcake cups with cooking spray, or line with cupcake liners.
• Place 8 strawberries into a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour the puree through a strainer to remove seeds. Puree should equal about 3/4 cup. Set the puree aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, white sugar, vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, lemon zest, and strawberry puree until well combined. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla pudding mix (for a moister cupcake), and red food coloring to reach a desired shade of pink. Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cupcakes have risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool at least 10 minutes before frosting.
• To make frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, and mix in confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to make a lump-free icing. Frost each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons of icing, and top each cupcake with a strawberry slice.