Strawberry and White Chocolate Cupcakes

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and a fun filled New Year. I still can't believe it's 2011. Time flies so fast.

Strawberries are really sweet at the moment, they are smaller in size but each punnet of strawberries that I have bought have been so sweet and juicy. What better way for me to do my first post on these delicious cupcakes. I found this recipe from www.taste.com.au, I tweaked it a little based on what ingredients I had at home.

These cupcakes are not only easy to make but really delicious too. They addition of almond meal gives it texture and keeps the cupcakes moist.

Strawberry and White Chocolate Cupcakes

(adapted from www.taste.com.au)

Ingredients

125g butter, at room temperature

155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar

2 eggs

150g (1 cup) self-raising flour

90g white chocolate, melted

80g (2/3 cup) almond meal

185ml (3/4 cup) skim milk

1 x 250g punnet strawberries, washed, hulled

300g (2 cups) icing sugar mixture, sifted

2-4 teaspoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line twelve 80ml (1/3-cup) capacity muffin pans.

2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gently fold the flour into the egg mixture. Fold in the chocolate, hazelnut meal and buttermilk until smooth.

3. Divide among the prepared pans and smooth the surfaces. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean. Set aside in the pans for 5 minutes to cool before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

4. Roughly chop 4 strawberries and place in a medium bowl. Use a fork to crush them slightly. Stir in the icing sugar. Gradually add milk until the icing is spreadable.

5. Spread icing over the cakes. Halve remaining strawberries arrange on top of each cupcake.

When making the icing, I would suggest leaving the strawberries coarsely crushed. It will break down the sweetness of the icing and the specks of crushed strawberries look great on top of the cupcakes.

I cant end this post without encouraging everyone to donate to the QLD Flood Relief. This has really affected me because its so close to home. I feel for the thousands of people that have lost everything. I don't go a day without thinking of all the people that have lost their lives and all those helpless animals that have struggled to survive. 

Every dollar counts. So please dig deep and donate.

Red Cross

RSPCA