Recipe: Strawberry Cupcakes

As the weather has taken a warmer turn, I've been craving strawberries more and more. Then I decided to make my nan a surprise cake but then realised that a two layer Victoria Sponge cake would be too much for her to eat on her own. So I turned them into cupcakes and they surprisingly turned out better than I expected. A light vanilla sponge with freeze dried strawberry pieces folded through topped with vanilla buttercream and a sliced fresh strawberry.

Ingredients 
For The Cupcakes
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 100g Stork
- 100g Self Raising Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 30g Freeze Dried Strawberries

For The Buttercream 
- 200g Butter, softened
- 320g Icing Sugar
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- A splash of milk
- A dozen strawberries sliced in half

Method
1- Pre heat oven to 180c. Line a twelve hole cupcake tin with paper cases.
2- Into a bowl place your caster sugar and stork. Using either a wooden spoon, spatula, hand mixer or stand mixer cream together until it's become soft, pale and fluffy in texture.
3- Add one egg and a tablespoon of flour. Beat until fully combined.
4- Repeat with the second egg and another tablespoon of flour. Beat until combined, taking care to scrape the edges of the bowl so that nothing is left sat on the sides.
5- Fold in your vanilla extract alongside the remainder of your flour. Take care when folding everything together as you don't want to knock out any of the air that you've already added to the mixture.
6- Spoon into your prepared cases and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top bounces back when pressed gently. Leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
7- Now it's time to start the buttercream. Place your softened butter into a clean bowl and beat until soft and pale in colour. I highly recommend using a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this part as it can take a while for it to reach the right consistency.
8- Sieve in half of your icing sugar and beat until it's fully combined.
9- Sieve in the other half of your icing sugar and beat until combined. Once everything is combined you can add a splash of milk to your buttercream to loosen it slightly so it's at an easier piping consistency.
10- Beat in your vanilla extract and take your time to scrape around the edges and bottom of the bowl so that there are no pockets of butter or icing sugar sitting there.
11- Spoon into a prepared piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice and pipe the buttercream onto your now cooled cupcakes. I used my trusty 2D Flower Nozzle that creates the perfect yet effortless swirl but you can use any piping tip you like.
12- When you've applied buttercream to all of your cupcakes, place your sliced strawberry half on top and leave to set. I highly advise putting these into either an airtight container or into the fridge what with having fresh fruit on top and all.
13- Then all that's left is to enjoy them. Mine went down a treat with my nan, family and work colleagues so I can guarantee all your friends and family will love them as well.