One of my favorite times in the garden is when I first see this
and this is our haul from the other day of our still intact berries (there was probably half this much again which had already been sampled by the birds!)
I've already made Strawberry Shortcake twice - you can see my favorite recipe for that
here. I wanted to try something new and went through my pile of recipes-in-waiting and came up with
these. I was a little put off by the negative reviews on the MSL site, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway and am glad I did!
I think the key is using really ripe, sweet strawberries. I have put a lot of effort into keeping my vegetable and strawberry patch 100% organic and I think it has really paid off in terms of the taste of the produce. These strawberries are the sweetest, juiciest berries I have ever eaten - there is just nothing like eating a berry you picked a few minutes before!
I started by making the berry puree in the food processor and getting the other ingredients together.
I found the key was creaming the butter until it was very light and fluffy and then sifting the flour before measuring it. You want everything just barely mixed and the batter should be very delicate and a soft pink color.
Instead of the frosting in the recipe, I decided to use a favorite trick of mine in the summer. My friend Laurie gave me this recipe and it is so easy - and much less fattening than a frosting recipe with 2 sticks of butter! I took a photo of this and am mad at myself for deleting it by mistake - sorry!
Anyway, the "frosting" is really a fruit dip that I thinned with some extra strawberry puree - I love using this as a summer dessert with fresh fruit, or on a plate beside some Angel Food Cake. It doesn't hold up like a frosting, so I would put this on the cupcakes just before serving.
Here is the recipe: 1 container of strawberry flavored cream cheese, 1 7oz. jar of marshmallow creme (here in New England, that would be Fluff!). Mix together with a hand mixer and keep refrigerated - that's it! and so yummy! I added the extra strawberry puree because I had it leftover from the cupcakes, but it would be just as tasty without.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! (couldn't resist adding one of my favorite Father's Day stamps that I used on this card)
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