I mentioned in my previous post that I made some cupcakes and they were a bit of a workout. Well the cupcakes themselves were easy and turned out great, it was the frosting that wanted to kill me.
I began all excited. I mean who doesn't love a good cupcake and they were strawberry ones so I thought they were perfect for summer and looked super easy. The recipe was from my Martha Stewart cupcake book and I've made other cupcakes from this book so I knew they would be fine. I got all of the ingredients around and ready.
Chopping up the strawberries was probably the worst part and that's only because I'm not a very fast cutter with a sharp knife. Too scared of cutting my finger off (I've obviously watched too many scary movies). Everything went together wonderfully and the batter was delicious (of course I ate a ton of it off of the blender).
After about 25 minutes the cupcakes were done and smelled wonderful. No problems here so I thought things were going great.
On to the frosting. It was a buttercream frosting and there were only 5 ingredients so it couldn't be that hard, right? I melted the sugar and eggwhites together and then used the mixer until they were frothy and thick. Then I blend in the butter and vanilla. Then I added the strawberry puree and the whole thing went insane. The frosting completely separated and turned to liquid sludge. I didn't even take a picture because it looked like congealed milk with bits of strawberries in it and I'm sure the description alone is making you sick. Of course I was mad and both my mom and dad looked at the recipe to see if they had any ideas but nothing was working. I am not one to be defeated by food so I went back to the store and bought more butter and sugar because I was going to attempt a different frosting.
This time it was a basic buttercream with confectioners sugar and butter and vanilla. It called for a pound of sugar, yes you heard right, a pound of sugar and after about a third of the bag I deemed it too sweet and thought it was thick enough. I added a few strawberries for flavor and while it still separated a little it was workable. It wasn't the most attractive frosting and I didn't make enough to decorate the cupcakes very prettily but they taste good and that's all that really matters.
My next mission is to find a good frosting recipe that is easy and tastes good. I'll be scouring the interwebs this weekend. If anyone has any tips, I would love to hear them.
My poor little cupcake thinking it was supposed to be a fashionista and instead looks like it's wearing hand me downs. (sorry the photo turned out a bit blurry).
If anyone is wondering they taste like a strawberry shortcake and are actually quite delicious. I've had positive feedback on the flavor.
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