Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

Mmm, how lovely. Rhubarb is such a lovely flavour, but it isn't something you can just buy in the grocery store. So when a friend's grandmother handed me a whole container of stewed, unsweetened rhubarb from her garden, I just knew I had to make a cupcake with them. Strawberry is the obvious counterpoint to any rhubarb recipe, so I picked me up a quart of 'em and set to work.

The cupcakes were pretty standard, which were a great backdrop for the sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb. Topped with the famous whipped cream frosting (this stuff is the best EVER) they made for an excellent cupcake. Since most of my cupcakes are consumed in lieu of breakfast (when the advisors get to work), they were the perfect taste combination for early morning - and not a single one made it past noon!

Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes

2 3/4 c. cake flour
1 c. softened unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
1 c. stewed unsweetened rhubarb, in its syrup
5 tbsp. sugar
1 c. hulled and sliced strawberries

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees; paper 24 cupcake tins
  
• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy; add eggs one at a time and beat well after each
• Combine flour and baking powder, set aside
• Combine milk and vanilla, set aside
• Alternate wet and dry ingredients until fully combined
• TURN MIXER OFF
• Fold in fruit so as not to break fruit with spatula
  
• Fill tins 3/4 full and bake 20-22 min until golden brown and slightly springy to the touch
• Cool completely before frosting

Whipped Cream Frosting

1 c. whipping cream
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 c. flour
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 c. icing sugar
2. tsp vanilla

• Mix cream, flour and salt together into a saucepan on low heat
• Whisk gently to remove lumps, then mix with wooden spoon until it forms a paste that pulls easily away from the side of the pot (like play doh). Allow to cool completely
• Once cool, beat. Add butter and beat until fluffy. Add sugar and continue whipping. Finally add vanilla and mix well.

*note: this icing especially should be refrigerated because of the whipping cream.

And there you have it! Such a lovely, summery, satisfying cupcake. Give it a try!

Blog Blitz #1: Summery Strawberry Salsa

I don't usually blog about anything but baking, but recently I have made a few cool dishes (that are simple and amazing) that I just needed to share. The very term "salsa" is defined as mixtures of raw food, which means no cooking at all, although I did later use it as a marinade. This was just too good not to share. Plus, the colours of the food was so amazing that they were begging for a photoshoot, and I have just figured out how to use my camera to get a half decent picture (I am a work in progress, believe me!) so I was a little excited.


A few coworkers and I were talking the other day about a really interesting recipe one of them found in a local paper that combined strawberries with jalapeno peppers. The combination sounded really weird, but actually pretty good - which got us to talking about other odd strawberry recipes we had seens.

You see, Southwestern Ontario has a lot of strawberries. A LOT of strawberries. Not that you'd know it, though, since the ones in the supermarket are still marked as imported from California (there is no logic to this one), but if you make it to a local market the whole place practically smells like a giant, ripe strawberry at this time of year. So it makes sense that there are a lot of recipes created to do this little fruit service.

Well I poked around on the internet and in a google search I found this recipe for strawberry salsa that looked so intriguing that I just needed to try it! However, I adapted it a little bit as I went along, and I was really pleased with my outcome. I found that the jalapeno was a little on the potent side, so I added two peaches, chopped, to the mix, which I thought soaked up a little more of the spicy (believe me, it was still HOT!)


I also topped mine with some grated cheese before serving, making it look a little more like a traditional salsa. My only other word of advice would be to gauge the cilantro - the taste is really delicious, but can be a bit overwhelming, so start a little under the proposed amount, and then add more if you need it.

The taste combination was really different, but in a good way. When I brought it to my cousin's birthday party it was demolished (by kids and adults alike) in less than five minutes flat!

I also doubled my recipe (I have a big family with a lot of appetite!) so I had some leftover the next day. My Mom and I got the idea to pack our chicken breasts in the rest of the salsa and bake it in there. WOW! What a delicious recipe that turned in to! The acid in the orange juice and lime really made the chicken tender, and there was this really neat spicy/cilantro-y taste that just infused into the meat. I will definitely make this as both a salsa, and a marinade again!

Summery Strawberry Almond Cupcakes with Whipped Cream Frosting

Oh June. There is a reason brides are married in June, for it is truly a romantic month. June is the month (in Ontario at least) that you really feel that warm weather is here to stay. All flannel pyjamas can be safely stored and replaced by white cottons, dark coloured pants are replaced by flowing patterned skirts, and difficult, sensible shoes can be victoriously shunned for snappy strappy sandals.

Even this year, in the midst of this grey weather funk that has descended upon us in Southwestern Ontario, it feels like Spring. The poppies in the garden are bobbing diligently, and the roses are fighting the cool weather to bloom anyway!

June also marks the beginning of strawberry season. Well, late June, anyway. I have a lot of very dear memories of strawberry picking with loved ones. Just outside of town is a farm which has u-pick strawberries. Back in the patches it is as quiet as another world, and in the June the earth is still muddy and wet and smelling of new life. And what better way to celebrate the first hand picked fruits of the season than with cupcakes?!

I really like this cupcake recipe. It was given to me by a friend who wanted Strawberry cupcakes a while ago, and I've never really found out where she got it...so if I'm stealing from someone let me know! because I'd happily give credit where credit is due.

The only downfall to this recipe is the texture is a bit more muffin-y and less cake-y than I would prefer. I am a strong believer that there is a real difference between a cupcake and a muffin. A muffin is a cupcake charading health, while a cupcake is a cup of cake making no excuses and gung-ho for the journey, regardless of calories. In fact, most muffins and cupcakes have similar caloric statistics, and fat content. Just with a cupcake, there's no pretending.

I like honesty.

But the cupcake really is exquisite, especially when topped with this very odd recipe for whipped cream frosting. It's a real messy mix between a frosting, and a whipped cream topping. Somehow this technique just works and makes a truly phenomenal frosting - more like Cool Whip than whipped cream. You know? Anyway, it's awesome, and I always make a double batch so I can really load it on the cupcakes (it's not as sweet as traditional icing, and it makes this muffiny cupcake seem a little more decadent) and then use the rest for a bowl of berries on a hot day.

I didn't top them with strawberry slices, as I had hoped, because I ended up using them all in the batter, so I might sprinkle just a hint of red sprinkles on the top of the cupcakes tomorrow before work (I really mean just a hint - I want the visual, not the taste). Yep, that will be delicious.

Sensational Summer Strawberry Sweeties. I'll have two.

Strawberry Almond Cupcakes
makes 24 cupcakes
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
3 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. slivered blanched almonds (some people prefer these toasted)
4 eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. crushed strawberries mixed with 3 tbsp. sugar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Paper two cupcake tins
• Mix flour, baking soda, sugar and nuts in one bowl. Set aside
• Mix eggs, almond and vanilla extract, oil in another bowl. Add strawberries and mix well, but leave chunks of strawberry visible
• Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly
• Bake 20-22 min. until cake is springy to the touch and testing with wooden skewer comes clean
• Cool completely before frosting.

Whipped Cream Frosting
I always double this recipe - but here is the original (undoubled) version
Also, I know this recipe looks weird. Try it anyway. It's actually amazing. Seriously.
1 c. whipping cream
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 c. flour
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
2 c. icing sugar
2. tsp vanilla

• Mix cream, flour and salt together into a saucepan on low heat
• Whisk gently to remove lumps, then mix with wooden spoon until it forms a paste that pulls easily away from the side of the pot (like play doh). Allow to cool completely
• Once cool, beat. Add butter and beat until fluffy. Add sugar and continue whipping. Finally add vanilla and mix well.

*note: this icing especially should be refrigerated because of the whipping cream.