Spring Break is finally here and my baking spree has officially started! Today is Katie’s Birthday and Preston said he wanted her to have white cake with pink icing, and this is what I came up with. The strawberry buttercream has a fresh strawberry taste and will definitely get you in the mood for spring! I’m not sure if you can find vanilla bean paste in the stores, but I ordered mine from amazon. It is so much more convenient than scraping the seeds out of the vanilla beans, but you could just use vanilla extract if that’s all you have or if you don’t want to go to the trouble of ordering vanilla bean paste. I’ve ordered a photography light set and it should be here on Monday, so hopefully that will help my pictures! =)
Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
for the cupcakes:
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners. Combine butter and sugar and beat until combined. Add egg and vanilla bean paste. Beat until fully combined. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add dry ingredients alternately with the milk and sour cream, starting and ending with the dry.
2. Fill cupcake liners slightly more than halfway full. Bake for 15 minutes, or until center of cupcakes bounce back when touched. Cool. Frost with strawberry buttercream.
for the frosting:
2 sticks room temperature butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
5 tbsp reduced strawberry puree (puree ~6 strawberries and cook over medium heat until reduced by 1/2)
1. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the strawberry puree, milk, and vanilla bean paste. Beat until combined.
