Very Strawberry Cupcakes

I am posting this recipe earlier than I had intended because sweet Pam (hi Pam!) wrote to me asking for help with a  strawberry cake. I promised that I would post this recipe soon so… here it is!

First, I have to admit that this is not my recipe. I made a few tiny adjustments and I turned it into cupcakes instead of cake but this is totally Paula Deen’s “Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake” recipe.  For the original recipe, click here.

Now this will slay you…

One of my changes… I added MORE butter. Yes. You heard me right. I added more butter to the Queen of butter’s recipe. How can this be? I’m baffled. But, when I was making the frosting it seemed more sweet than rich and creamy. It totally needed more butter Honestly, I’m kind of embarrassed that I added more evil butter. Kind of.

I think these would make a beautiful addition to a mother’s day celebration. You could even arrange on a tiered platter for a gorgeous centerpiece. Hmmmm… yummy and beautiful. Gotta like that!

Very Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 box white cake mix
• 3-oz box strawberry flavored Jell-o
• 15-oz packages frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed in a blender (or with a hand mixer until pureed)
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli 60%)
• Strawberries for garnish

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8-oz package cream cheese, room temperature
• 10-oz package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed as above
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 7 cups confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill two cupcake pans with cupcake liners (you should have 20-24 cupcakes).

In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil and water with a whisk. When well combined, add cake mix and Jell-o. Beat with handmixer for 2 minutes. Add strawberries and beat 30 seconds or until smooth.

Pour into lined cupcake pan. Bake as directed on box for cupcakes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Place pans on wire rack and cool completely.

To make frosting:

Beat the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Beat in 1/2 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (Save remaining puree to pour over ice cream or French Toast – yum!) Add confectioners sugar, one cup at a time, beating after each addition until smooth.

To assemble:

Frost each cooled cupcake with a generous amount of frosting. Cut strawberries in half lenthwise, keeping stem intact. Melt chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute or until completely melted. Use a fork to lightly drizzle tops of cupcakes with the chocolate.

Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve. When ready to serve, let sit on counter for about 30 minutes.

NOTES:

• Paula’s recipe called for a 15 ounce package of strawberries and a 10 ounce package. I could only find 10 ounce packages at my grocery store so I purchased three packages. Now I only made these about three weeks ago so I should remember how much I used but… I think each package yielded 1 cup of pureed strawberries. If this is correct, you only need two packages. Use one and a half in the cake and the remaining 1/2 cup in the frosting.

• You can certainly make this as a cake as Paula did. I would cut each layer so that you would have four layers. I think it would be awesome with a chocolate ganache filling in between two of the layers and the strawberry frosting in the center layer. Garnish with chocolate covered strawberries. How yummy would that be?!

Sweetest Blessings,
LeAnn