Kiwi Strawberry Cupcakes

We only go to Costco once in awhile, usually about once a month, and mainly to buy paper goods, water, and meat--the price is worth it! When we do go though we will sometimes buy fruit and veggies depending on what they have at the time. This time we got kiwi, and in Costco fashion- they only sale them in bulk! So, what to do with so much kiwi before it goes bad?!?! Bake with it of course! 

I've never baked with kiwi before so I wasn't sure how they would come out, but, they are delicious! I love kiwis and strawberries together so I decided to mix in some strawberries too. 

I pureed the kiwi but only chopped up the strawberries- next time I might try switching it up and see how that changes the flavor. I use a food processor attachment for my Cuisinart stand mixer to make my purees and it's awesome! I am seriously in love with my Cuisinart mixer! It is by far the best gift I have ever received!! (Thanks Mom!!)

I didn't strain the seeds and beat in the puree and then folded in the strawberries. The batter wasn't as green as I thought it would be- but maybe that's a good thing!! 

 The cupcakes baked up great and I love how you can see the strawberries and the kiwi seeds in the finished product! They also smelled delicious! Yumm! 

The cupcakes had a very mild kiwi flavor and a stronger strawberry flavor so I decided to make a kiwi only frosting. I made my frosting as I normally would have and then folded in chopped kiwi. I love that the frosting kept its white color but that I could see the kiwi chunks in it. 

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Kiwi Strawberry Cupcakes

Yield: about 18

Ingredients 

Cupcakes:

1½ cups flour- sifted

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

¼ cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla

½ cup unsalted butter

1¼ cups sugar

1 egg

2 egg whites

2/3 cup Kiwi Puree

1 cup chopped strawberries

Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese

½ cup butter

3 tbsp. heavy cream

3-6 cups of powdered sugar- sifted

7 oz marshmallow fluff

5-6 tbsp. chopped kiwi

Directions:

Cupcakes:

1.    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners


2.    In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

3.    In a separate bowl stir milk, vanilla, and kiwi puree.

4.    In the bowl of your stand mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

5.    Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition.

6.    Add ½ flour mixture and mix well.

7.    Add liquid mixture, mix well.

8.    Add remaining flour mixture, mix until incorporated.

9.    Fold in strawberry chunks.

10. Divide batter between cups, about ⅔ full.

11. Place pans in oven and immediately turn oven down to 325º. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning half way if your oven (like mine) doesn’t cook evenly.

Frosting:

1.    In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.

2.    Beat in heavy cream.

3.    On low, add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

4.    Stir in marshmallow fluff until well incorporated.

5.    Fold in chopped kiwi.

6.    Garnish with kiwi slices. 

 Thanks for coming, stay awhile, and return often! xoxo

  

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes

Living in California, fresh strawberries are readily available and this time of year they are delicious! I've made these strawberry cupcakes a few times now and they seem to get better and better each time! 

I normally just add puree but I decided to fold in chopped up strawberries and it was a great addition! These cupcakes are moist, crumbly, and the fresh strawberry flavor makes all the difference!

I like to use a cookie scoop to get a relatively even cupcake size-- not to mention it makes for a much cleaner process!

I love the color of the cupcakes and how you can see the chunks of fresh strawberries in them when they are all baked up! 

I top these with a fresh strawberry icing and it is delicious!!! However, no matter what I try it is never a thick, "pipeable" icing. It is always a little on the runny side but since I know it's because of the amount of puree I add, I don't really mind! I love the strong strawberry flavor so I compromise on the thickness! 

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Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes

Yield: about 18

Ingredients 

Cupcakes:

1½ cups flour- sifted

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

¼ cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla

½ cup unsalted butter

1¼ cups sugar

1 egg

2 egg whites

2/3 cup strawberry puree

1-2 cups chopped strawberries

Frosting:

16 oz cream cheese

1 cup butter

2 tbsp. heavy cream

½-3/4 cup of strawberry puree, whole fresh strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree

3-6 cups of powdered sugar- sifted

Directions:

Cupcakes:

1.    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners


2.    In the bowl of your stand mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

3.    Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition.

4.    In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

5.    In a separate bowl stir milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree.

6.    Add ½ flour mixture and mix well.

7.    Add liquid mixture, mix well.

8.    Add remaining flour mixture, mix until incorporated.

9.    Fold in strawberry chunks.

10. Divide batter between cups, about ⅔ full.

11. Place pans in oven and immediately turn oven down to 325º. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning half way if your oven (like mine) doesn’t cook evenly.

Frosting:

1.   In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth.

2.   Beat in heavy cream.

3.   On low, add strawberry puree and mix.

4.   Add in powdered sugar until desired consistency and flavor.

Thanks for coming, stay awhile, and return often! xoxo

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Sprinkles' Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe

Blackberry Lemon Cupcakes

We have a BBQ coming up and I wanted a new fresh tasting cupcake to take. I love berries during the summer especially straight from the Farmer's Market so I wanted a cupcake that used some kind of berry. Although I have a great recipe for strawberry cupcakes and will probably make and take some of those, I wanted something new to try. I went to handy dandy google and searched 'berry cupcakes' and found a lot of options, then I found this recipe and this recipe. I liked the idea of blackberry and lemon together and adding a glaze so I used them as a starting point and off I went! Anytime I want to bake I always search google for recipes and ideas, although I rarely will use a recipe exactly as is-- why completely reinvent the wheel?!?!

The recipes I found used a cupcake that was just lemon flavored and the berry was just in the icing but I wanted the berry in the cupcake too! I decided to puree the blackberries and drop small amounts of it into the cupcakes once they were in the pan; I then used a toothpick to swirl the puree into the cupcake so I could have the blackberry flavor without mixing the flavors. 

               

I pureed the blackberries in my food processor but you could also use a blender or if all else fails, chop them up as best you can! I also used cheesecloth to strain out the puree from the seeds but a strainer with small holes could also be used. I definitely recommend straining the puree though! If fresh berries aren't readily available you could use frozen or even a preservative, although using a preservative wouldn't taste as fresh. You could also substitute raspberries, blueberries, or even strawberries for the blackberries if you wish! 

When I took the cupcakes out and tried them they were delicious, but not as lemony as I would like. Once I made the glaze, spooned it on, and let it set I tried them again and they had that perfect lemon bite! If you want less of the lemon flavor you could skip the glaze but I loved the fresh lemon taste that the glaze added! I finished them off with a simple swirl and a blackberry garnish! 

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Blackberry Lemon Cupcakes

Yield: about 2 dozen

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1¾ cups all-purpose flour-sifted

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

Zest of 2 large lemons

1 cup butter-softened

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

½ cup sour cream

¾ cup milk

¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 2 lemons

1 cup of blackberry puree

Lemon Glaze:

Zest of half a lemon

¼ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1⅔ cup of powdered sugar

Frosting:

1½ sticks of butter- softened

12 oz. of cream cheese

1 tbsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. heavy cream

4-6 cups of powdered sugar- sifted

1 cup of blackberry puree

Directions

Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
2. Sift flour into mixing bowl; add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer beat on low the sugar and lemon zest until the sugar is infused with lemon flavoring.
4. Add butter and beat on medium until light and fluffy. 
5. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly in between each addition. Wipe down sides of the bowl with spatula as needed. 
6. Beat in vanilla until well incorporated. 
7. In a small bowl whisk together sour cream, milk, and lemon juice. 
8. Starting and ending with the dry ingredients, alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix thoroughly. 
9. Evenly divide batter between lined cupcake pan. 
10. In a food processor puree blackberries until smooth, use cheesecloth to strain out the seeds. 
11. Use a spoon to drop small amounts of the blackberry puree into each cupcake, use a toothpick to swirl in the puree. 
12. Place cupcakes in oven and immediately decrease the temperature to 325º. Bake for 16-23 minutes, cupcake should bounce back when touched and toothpick should come out clean.

Glaze:

1. Whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. 
2. Once cupcakes are completely cooled spoon glaze onto cupcakes and let it set completely before frosting. (You can either place them in the fridge for quicker setting time or leave them on the counter)

Frosting:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine butter and cream cheese; beat on medium-high until smooth, scraping sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
2. Beat in the vanilla extract. 
3. Beat in the heavy cream. 
4. Once well mixed, turn mixer down to low and begin adding sifted powdered sugar until desired consistency.
5. Mix in blackberry puree; if icing is too runny add more powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.

Try them out and let me know what you think! 

Thanks for coming, stay awhile, and return often! xoxo