Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes- AKA seriously the best cupcake EVER!

You may remember my obsession with Sprinkles. Love. Love. Love their cupcakes. Especially the strawberry one. Its light and fluffy. Strawberry-y, but not too much so. Sweet berry goodness. You can imagine my excitement when I came across "The Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcake Recipe" here and "The Sprinkles Strawberry Frosting Recipe" here. Yay! :) I knew it was meant to be when strawberries were on sale for $0.96 a pint at H-E-B the other week.. Score!

Let me tell you, this is a winner! It is very similar to the Sprinkles version, but even if it wasn't, its still light and fluffy and slightly sweet.

 The frosting is where most of the strawberry flavor comes from. You just feel happy and summery while you eat it. Everyone who I gave one of these to loved it too. I went ahead and purreed and froze the rest of my strawberries before they went bad. Now I just need a special occassion to make them for! Anyone having a party? P.S. See, I DO use all my cake stands. :)

P.S.S. I was also happy to use one of my newer kitchen gadgets- the strawbery huller! Handy dandy little stocking stuffer.

Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes
Makes 1 dozen cupcakes

• 2/3 cup strawberries (thawed if frozen), roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp coarse salt
• 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature (I used half skim milk and half cream, since that's all I had)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 large egg whites, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners and set aside. 

Puree strawberries in a small food processor until smooth. You will need 1/3 cup puree for the batter- set aside. Save remaining for the frosting. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. It is important that the flour is measured after it is sifted, not before. 

 

In a small bowl, mix together strawberry puree, milk and vanilla. Set aside. 

In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high until light and fluffy. About 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar until well combined and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium and slowly add egg and egg whites until just blended. The egg whites make the batter nice and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add half of the flour mixture until just combined. Add the milk mixture until just combined. Add remaining flour mixture until totally combined. Make sure you are stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. I did about 2 scoops each with my hand-dandy cookie scoop. I love how it makes things a little less messy. 

Bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22-25 minutes.  Transfer to wire cooling rack and let cool completely before icing. 

 

If you are in a hurry for the to cool, cool them on a wire rack for 5 minutes then place in the fridge while you clean up and make the frosting. 

Sprinkles Strawberry Frosting
Ices 12 cupcakes + you will have some extra!

• 1/2 cup roughly chopped strawberries, roughly chopped (Note, you will only need about 4 TBSP of puree before its strained and I had enough left over from making the cupcakes for the icing)
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
• pinch of course salt
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted (measure the sugar AFTER its sifted)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 Puree strawberries. Press through mesh strainer to remove seeds. Set aside 2 TBSP of seedless puree. This takes a few extra minutes, but its totally worth it! 

Beat together butter and salt at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 

Reduce speed to low and slowly add confectioners sugar a little at a time until well combined. 

 

Add vanilla and strawberry puree. Mix until just combined, scraping sides as needed. Do not over mix or the frosting will incorporate too much air. It should be dense and creamy like ice cream. 

Spoon into icing bag with desired tip. Do not fill the bag more than 3/4 full or it will come out of the top too!

You can place in the fridge for a few minutes if your cupcakes are still cooling. I like to do this while I clean up. Ice cupcakes and enjoy! I kept mine in the fridge to keep the frosting from sliding off. 

When you want to eat them, just remove from fridge and bring to room temperature or place in the microwave for a 10-15 seconds on 20% power. Enjoy!