Strawberry Cupcake Recipe with Pistachio Cream Cheese Butter Cream…

I’m just getting right to it today!  The April cupcake of the month recipe is a strawberry cupcake with pistachio cream cheese buttercream! Yum! Yum! Yum!!

Cupcake Ingredients: **Vanilla Cake portion of the recipe adopted from Sweetapolita

Ingredients

• 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 whole egg
• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 2-1/4 teaspoons  pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour, sifted
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into 24 even pieces
• 2 cups of sliced strawberries
• 1 cup strawberry puree (Recipe: 2 cups of strawberries, splash of lemon juice, couple teaspoons of simple syrup- blend together until smooth)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F . Line cupcake pans with liners.
2. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the egg whites, whole egg, 1/4 cup of milk, and the vanilla. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together on low speed (I use the “stir” setting on my mixer) for 30 seconds.
4. Add the butter one piece at a time, about every 10 seconds, ensuring it’s cold (you can keep some in refrigerator while you’re adding pieces). Continue to mix on low until the mixture is a fine crumbly texture. Add milk, and mix on low speed for 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches, mixing until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. (You want to ensure that the batter is homogenous.) Fold once or twice to ensure the batter at bottom of bowl is incorporated.
5. Pour the strawberry puree in the batter until just combined.
6. Toss the sliced strawberries with a tablespoon of flour.  Using a spatula, gently fold the sliced strawberries in the batter.
7. Using an ice cream scoop, place the batter in the lined cupcake pans.
8. Bake until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs when inserted into the center, about 15 -18 minutes. Be so careful to not over-bake.

Pistachio Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1 block of cream cheese
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup of chopped, shelled pistachios
• 2 cups of confectioners sugar
• 1 stick of unsalted butter

Instructions:

1. In a mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until pale and fluffy.
2. Add the vanilla extract and 1 cup of sugar.  Mix until well combined.
3. Add the second cup of sugar until well combined.
4. Using a spatula, fold in the pistachios.
5. Frost the cupcake however you like!  I garnished mine with a strawberry fan.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoy this scrumptious sweet and salty cupcake of the month recipe.  I always love to hear feedback, so if you ever try out one of my recipes feel free to comment or tweet me how it went!  Have a lovely weekend!

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