Strawberry Cream Cupcakes

There are just those times in life when only a cupcake will do. It’s an immediate pick-me-up and the perfect complement to any celebration. Feeling blue after a boyfriend breaks up with you? Cupcakes to the rescue! You just got engaged? Congrats and enjoy!  Of course, any reason will do including “because I feel like it” and “it’s Wednesday, don’t you know?” Yes, I do.

So all cupcakes are good, really.  Even bad cupcakes are good.  Alright, so there are lots of good cupcakes, but then there are great cupcakes. Cupcakes so good that you can’t speak.  That’s what I’m talking about here.  A shut you up, can’t think straight, can only think of cupcakes, cupcakes. These are absurd and if you don’t try them soon, I will be concerned for your sanity.  You. Need. To. Eat. These. Cupcakes.

The scary part?  You use . . . oh gosh . . . wait for it . . . boxed cupcake mix!  Yes, yes — gasp, scream — I know!  Not to mention this coming from me, the devilish little person who thinks every cookie, cake and brownie should be homemade or go home.  Yep, there’s my dirty little secret — I make them anyway and they are incredible.

I love them with strawberries, but they are also frightfully good with raspberries.  Mash the berry to any texture that suits you, but I like a ‘medium’ mash, so there’s still some chunkiness in the fruit, but lots of the sweet juice has been released from each berry.  You definitely want to beat the heavy cream until you get legitimate stiff peaks because the whipped cream will undoubtedly deflate a bit when you fold in the fruit.  Another tip — it never hurts to spray the top of your muffin tins with a little non-stick cooking spray before you put in the liners for an easy cupcake release!

Strawberry Cream Cupcakes
Adapted from Giade De Laurentiis

1 (18.25-ounce) box white cake mix (recommended: Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
1 1/3 cups water
3 large eggs whites
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped OR 2 (6-ounce) containers fresh raspberries, cut in half
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus additional for dusting

Spray top of muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Line 18 muffin cups with muffin papers. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Using an electric or stand mixer, beat the cake mix, water, egg whites, melted butter, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a large bowl for 2 minutes, or until the batter is well blended. Using about 1/3 cup of batter for each cupcake, spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake the cupcakes until they are very pale golden on top, about 15 minutes (or up to 20 minute on a rainy or humid day). Cool the cupcakes completely on a cooling rack.

Using a fork, coarsely mash the 160z. container of strawberries or 1 1/2 containers of raspberries in a medium bowl. Beat the cream and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar in a large bowl until firm peaks form. Gently fold the mashed berries into the whipped cream.

Remove the muffin papers from the cupcakes and cut the tops off of each cupcake. Spoon the raspberry whipped cream atop the cupcake bottoms. Place the cupcake tops on the cupcakes. Dust with more powdered sugar and serve with the remaining berries.

Enjoy with reckless abandonment!  Serves 12-18, depending on the day (seriously).

Tagged as: cupcakes, strawberry cream