Blossom Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes
Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 packages (16 ounces each) Driscoll's Strawberries
Frosting and Decoration
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
6 3/4 cups confectioner's sugar, whisked before measuring (plus extra as needed)
1/3 cup whole milk (plus extra as needed)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pastry bag and star tip, such as Wilton 1M
Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 18 cupcake wells with paper liners.
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.
Whisk egg whites and milk together in a small bowl combine; set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice; beat in vanilla. Add the flour mixture in four additions, alternately with the egg white/milk mixture. Begin and end with the flour mixture and beat until smooth on low-medium speed after each addition. Chop enough hulled strawberries to equal 1 cup and fold into batter.
Divide batter evenly in pan. Bake for about 22 minutes or until edges are turning light golden brown; a toothpick inserted in center will show a few moist crumbs.
Cool pan on rack for 5 minutes then remove cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Frosting and Decoration
In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add 1 cup sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Add remaining sugar, milk and vanilla and beat on high speed until silky smooth. Frosting is now ready to use.
Use pastry bag and tip to pipe a swirl of frosting on top of each cupcake. Slice remaining strawberries as desired to decorate tops of cupcakes. (See images)
Suggestion: Hull berries. Slice berries lengthwise very thinly. Arrange the slices tips facing up in a ring around the cupcake, about ½-inch in from the edge. Create another ring inside the first one. Place a cut berry top in the middle to form the "blossom" center.
