For Your Sweetheart: Strawberry Cupcakes

Love is in the air! How will you and your sweetheart spend Valentine’s Day? Whether you’ll be enjoying a night on the town or a cozy evening at home, you’ll need a batch of these Strawberry Cupcakes for the finale.

When I first encountered this recipe, it was for a strawberry cake topped with strawberry frosting. I converted it to cupcakes, so I could share them more easily. I also used cream cheese frosting instead of the strawberry because well, everything is better with cream cheese frosting.

On another note, my cupcakes took a bit longer to bake, about 22 minutes, because I filled the liners almost to the top. I like big cupcakes and I cannot lie. This resulted in 15 generously sized cupcakes.

Here’s to a deliciously sweet Valentine’s Day!

Strawberry Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

3-ounce package strawberry gelatin

½ cup buttermilk

10-ounce package frozen strawberries, thawed

Strawberry frosting

¼ cup butter, softened

1 pound of confectioners sugar

⅓ to ½ cup juice drained from strawberries

Heat oven to 350 F. Add cupcake liners to a cupcake pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add oil, sugar, gelatin and buttermilk. Stir vigorously until well blended. Add the flour mixture and blend.

Drain ⅓ to ½ cup of juice from strawberries and reserve for frosting.

Fold strawberries into batter. Pour batter into cupcake liners almost to the top.

Bake 20 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.

Allow cupcakes to rest in pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, combine butter and confectioners sugar and strawberry juice. Beat until creamy.

(Recipe adapted from cooks.com)