Strawberry Cupcake {recipe}

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You know that thing about the rose with any other name not smelling so sweet?

Well, that´s true of desert too.  It all started when the hubbie came home with 3K of strawberries and a misplaced certainty
that we could eat them all.

Ok, that's not entirely true. These are not just strawberries...

these are REAL strawberries.

The kind that actually makes the kitchen smell like strawberries.

The kind that, when you bite into it, bursts into flavor and

makes your brain scream: more!!!

These strawberries have the taste your mouth waters for when you see strawberry adds.

Yes. They are that good.

After eating many I proceeded to find recipes in which to use them. I´m in a cupcake mood, so after a frustrating search

(why people don´t want to use real ingredients beats me, but

that´s just my dysfunction, right?)
I found a recipe with real strawberries.

Happy Aline!

 They have a sleepover with sugar. You wake up to juicy sweet strawberries...

You mash them a little and let them drain.

You do the most boring task ever (sifting flour). But it is

really, really worth it in these cupcakes.
Trust me. I´m eating them. I know.

So, back to the roses... I´ve been melting chocolate and adding whipping cream for years.

Pretty good stuff. For these I thought: I´ll make ganache.
´Cause that sounds fancy.

Fancy suits strawberry cupcakes.

 I went to find a recipe and...
well, it´s what I´ve been making for years.

But with any other name... right?

Melted chocolate with heavy cream sounds mundane.

Ganache.

That sounds like a fancy 10.000 calories and a satisfied smile.

My kind of food.

 Worth every grain of sifted flour.

Now I still need to figure out what to do with these.

I´m leaning towards strawberry chocolate chip cookies.

Sounds perfectly decadent...

Strawberry Cupcakes

(adapted from asouthernfairytale.com)

Makes 30 cupcakes

Ingredients

2 Sticks Butter (200g)

1 1/4 C white sugar

2 3/4 C sifted cake flour

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

4 room temperature eggs

1 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 C 2% milk

16 medium strawberries (12 -14 oz) chopped and macerated (topped with white sugar and allowed to soak overnight)

Instructions

- The night before, chop the strawberries, cover with white sugar and refrigerate. When you´re ready to make cupcakes, mash them lightly (you don't want a puree, you want some chunks). Place them in a strainer over a bowl, you won’t need all the juice.

- Pre-heat oven to 350 F and line cupcake tins

- In a bowl, sift cake flour and then measure 2 3/4 C and add in 2 1/2 tsps baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt

- In your mixer, mix together the butter and white sugar until pale yellow and fluffy.

- Slowly add the room temperature eggs one by one, mixing for about one minute after each egg.

- Add vanilla extract

- Whisk together the dry mix and alternately add the dry mix and 1/2 C milk, blending well and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.

- With a wooden spoon, fold in the strawberries and about 1/4 C + 1 Tbsp strawberry juice until well incorporated.

- Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake until lightly golden on top (for me it was 25min).

- Cool in tins for 5 minutes and then finish cooling on a wire rack

WW Points +
Batch = 95 points
Serving = 3 points
Serving size = 1 cupcake

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

200g semisweet chocolate

200g light whipping cream (ok, here´s the deal, we don´t find this here in Brazil, but from what I´ve read it´s your best bet)

Instructions

- In a double boiler, melt chocolate until no pieces remain.

- Turn off the stove (do not remove chocolate from boiler) and quickly add the whipping cream. Mix well until smooth.

I like the bitter chocolate over the sweet cupcake. If you have a sweeter tooth, add some sugar. :) 

WW Points +
We don´t have this here in Brazil (at least not easily), so I only have the points for the chocolate (32 points), but if you have the number please let me know.