Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes♥

Amanda Cupcake & Strawberry Shortcake.

 ♥

BFFS.

Made possible by a cupcake dream that came true.

I sandwiched summery strawberry hopes and wishes in between layers of vanilla deliciousness.  The pink sprinkled dots were definitely an Amanda Cupcake touch.  But I have to give the credit to Strawberry Shortcake for the delicious strawberry sandwich idea.

See what I mean?

This is inspiration for my strawberry shortcake cupcake creation.

It's kind of like my mission of uniting cupcakes & pie.

When I finished decorating the cupcakes...

I couldn't help but notice that the pink swirl on top sprinkled with pink dots looked just like one of my fave celebrities from the 1980s.

My childhood in a cupcake, that is now in my hand.

♥

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcake-how to bake it yourself ♥

(If you really want to channel your childhood, dust off that EZ Bake Oven)!

To keep it simple, you can doctor up a cake mix:

The Best Vanilla Cake Mix (if I use cake mixes at all, I use Duncan Hines).

1 or 2 Vanilla Beans

1 1/4 Cup of Buttermilk (in place of water)

1/3 Cup Oil

3 Eggs

• Pre-heat oven to 350.    Line Cupcake Pan with appx 24 Cupcake Liners.
• Mix Cake Mix, Buttermilk, and Vegetable Oil in Stand Mixer.
• Open and scrape vanilla beans into batter. ♥
• Gradually add Eggs into mixture until well blended.
• Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so all ingredients are incorporated.
• Fill Cupcake Liners about 2/3 full and bake for appx 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean.

For Strawberry Goodness Sandwiched into your cupcake:

Strawberry Gelee (recipe adapted from Sticky Gooey Chewy Creamy)

1 Cup Strawberry Puree

¼ Cup Sugar

1 T Lemon Juice

2T Cold Water

3 T Strawberry Jello

½ Cup  fresh summery strawberries, diced!

1.  Puree your strawberries (I use a blender and that works wonderfully).

2.  Now you can heat your strawberry puree & sugar in a small saucepan.

3.  Add lemon juice-then remove from heat.

4.  Combine cold water and gelatin in a small bowl.

5.  This water and gelatin combo will need to sit for 5 minutes.

6.  Add your strawberry puree/sugar blend to the water/gelatin combo and stir until gelatin dissolves.

7.  Stir strawberries into mixture and let this chill for 1-2 hours before sandwiching into your cupcake.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe:

by Amanda Cupcake.

1 lb unsalted butter

5 T of strawberry jelly or you can use 5 T of the strawberry gelee that you already made.

1 T of Vanilla Extract

3Tof Heavy Whipping Cream

3-4 Cups Powdered Sugar

**To help blend the strawberries into the frosting, use the whisk attachment on your stand mixer for this recipe.

Directions:

1. Using your stand mixer,  mix your unsalted butter until it looks fluffy and creamy.

2.  Gradually add strawberry gelee, vanilla extract, and heavy whipping cream.

3.  Once all ingredients are incorporated gradually add powdered sugar until you reach the consistency desired (the more powdered sugar you add the thicker the frosting will be).