Erin: Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

First off I wasn't sure exactly how all this baking was going to turn out but I knew I needed to look cute doing it. I got this apron here.
I also knew that my current cupcake pans where probably not going to cut it...

So I bought myself a 12 cupcake pan which was expensive which means that it will make better cupcakes...right??

Then I went to the store to purchase Cake Flour and decided I should get some extra eggs because I wasn't sure how many I had. Luckily when I came home I found this...

(note to self look thoroughly through fridge and cabinets before going to store)

I decided to start with Strawberry cupcakes(pg 146) because it seemed a whole lot easier then some of the other recipes.

First step sifting together 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup cake flour and 1 tsp salt.

I wasn't positive what it meant by sifting...so I used a spatula and sort of did what I believed was sifting.

Then I creamed 1 cup unsalted butter(at room temp), 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 2 1/4 cups sugar.

(Ps Mom you are SO going to need to get a mixer!)

Then added 3 eggs individually allowing it to fully beat in each time and then added one egg white...I was nervous about separating the egg white over the mixture so I did it in a cup and then added it.

Now slow down mixer to low and add the flour mixture in two batches coordinating with one cup of milk. Now the KEY WORD is slow mixer...maybe my kitchen looks like it snowed.

After everything is well combined fold in by HAND 2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries. Now this is my definition of finely chopped...

But I am sure it isn't Martha's definition because as I was spooning it into the pan I was thinking that the strawberries needed to be much smaller.

I then poured the batter into each liner filling up about 3/4 the way as directed. I then baked them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees, rotated the pan and continued cooking for an additional 6 minutes.

(Every stinking time I make cupcakes they never ever look like a cupcake more like a muffin...you know it doesn't have a big top...how do I achieve the big top?)

As I was filling up my second batch of cupcakes my son came out for a drink of water completely half asleep but then saw that I was making cupcakes and it took me almost an hour to get him to go back down.

(don't judge his over sized fading pjs..it was laundry day)

As the last of the cupcakes where cooking I pureed 1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries for the topping.
Then I combined 4 lrg egg whites and 1 1/4 cup sugar into my electric mixer bowl and placed it over a boiling pot of water. I stirred it until the sugar was melted and the texture was rubbery.

(note to self buy new whisk)

After I achieved the rubbery texture(does that sound dirty?) I attached the bowl to my mixer and mixed on high speed for 10 minutes until it was stiff. Then I added 3 sticks of butter(hello cellulite) one tbsp at a time. Then I mixed in the strawberry puree and this is what I got...
A big runny mess of a goop! WHAT THE H.....

I was ticked it was 10:30pm and I was tired and I was ready to toss everything into the garbage disposal and call it a night.

Then I got control of myself and went ahead and tried it again...this time I beat the egg white, sugary rubbery mixture for 15 minutes until it was stiff as a board. Then I slowly added the butter but I only added 1 1/2 sticks instead of the three and I added only half the puree.

It still wasn't stiff or what I would call meringue looking but it wasn't too runny. So I stuck it in a container and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next morning when I opened the container I stuck it in the mixer and used the paddle to get the air bubbles out(this is what the books says). The texture was still no where near stiff meringue BUT I didn't have the time to remake it so I stuffed in a pastry bag and started topping the cupcakes.

Yeah so this is what Martha's looked like...This is what mine looked like. Ugh. I am gong to stay away from meringue recipes for awhile.


I decided to give my cupcake love to all the girls at church. The frosting looked a little...weird...but everyone said that they were mighty tasty. And when I came out and started handing them out to all the adults I got some really positive feed back.
All in all my first recipe went okay.

The cupcakes were very tasty. If you are a fruit fan you will love this.

The actual cupcakes I am going to say where easy.

The topping was tricky/hard.

I am going to have to revisit this one.