Strawberries & Cream

Afternoon lovlies!  Phew been awhile since I posted a recipe.  I'm going to try to post more all around things.  Recipes, Beauty/Product Reviews, and just general shenanigans I get myself into.  Also will try to blog a couple of times a week, just in case any of you were missing me :)

If you don't know, one of my favorite fruits is strawberries.  I can eat them by the box full and never tire of them.  Naked, sugared, whip cream, baked, dipped, or any other way you can think of I just LOVE them.  What better way to beat this crazy heat (seriously 109 is getting a bit crazy!) than to make a delectable strawberry cupcake with a cream cheese frosting?  A delectable strawberry cupcake with WHIPPED cream cheese frosting.  Oh yes I went there.  These are almost the perfect cupcake (I'm a chocoholic and the lack of chocolate stops it from being perfect).

Strawberries & Cream

Pink Lady Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the cake
4 1/2 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries
8 egg whites
2/3 cup milk
Pink Food Coloring Gel

Make the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 350^oF. Line 3 cupcake pans with liners.
2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point. (Deb note: I must warn you not to try the batter at this point. Not even a smear of it. How unbearably good it is will shock you, and lead to more dipping. Only you can stop this from coming to pass.)
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and pink food dye, if using, to blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.
4. Bake the cupcakes 15-22 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes.  Let stand until completely cooled before icing the cake, at least an hour.
**Also makes a 3 layer cake.  Use 3 8in cake pans and bake 30-35 minutes**

Ms. Humble's Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
16oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream, cold. Higher the fat content, the better (I'm using 40% Ultra)

Beat the cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. In a separate bowl,
beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks, then add the whipped cream into the
cheese mixture and quickly and briefly beat to combine. Do not over beat.

I also loved the hot pink color (ok I added a lot of pink food coloring) and it is what inspired me to make them at the time I did; because one of my favorite cosmetic companies celebrated their first birthday in June.  I'll be posting on them soon!! 

Rockeresque Beauty Company

Also I got those simply GORGEOUS cupcake liners and yummy sprinkles at a bakery supply site called Sweet Cuppin Cakes.  Cutest name right?  I was made aware of this site and won a $50 giftcard for their site on Cupcake Rehab.  I simply adore Cupcake Rehab.  Check it out!