Strawberry Short Cupcakes

 Winter and holiday seasons are filled with decedent treats and with Spring around the corner we're  lightening things up with small Strawberry Shortcakes. 

That's right, Strawberry Short Cupcakes.

Krisa pointed out that shortcakes are either a biscuit (cookie) or sponge-cake so a decision had to be made before we could bake. We decided that because we were making cupcakes that sponge cake would be better  than cups full of cookie (though that does sound kind of delicious).

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter (lightly salted)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

 - Beat eggs in large mixing bowl with paddle attachment for 4 minutes.  Do not skip this step!

- Add sugar, and continue beating for another 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and stir on low until just combined.

We replaced the vanilla with brandy and the whole milk with heavy cream then Krisa started beating the eggs while I mixed the flour, sugar and baking powder together.

  - In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients.  

Add to eggs and sugar on low speed until just combined.

                                                                                                      - In a saucepan, heat milk and butter on low heat just until    butter is melted.  Add to batter, beat just until combined.

 The cake recipe yielded enough batter for 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes so we decided to bake one batch with and one batch without strawberries in the spongecake.  First we washed, sliced, diced then mixed the berries from the patch into the batch and stuck them in the oven. 

(we used about 10 whole strawberries for this addition).

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees 

 

- Pour into cupcake cups. 

 
- Bake at 325 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

- Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. 

 

Krisa, being the true baker here, added white sugar, confection sugar and a splash of brandy to a container cool whip creating a  thicker constancy for the whipped cream "frosting". 

 The cupcakes without strawberries baked in were topped with a dollop of  whipped cream then covered in sliced strawberries and since the other cupcakes had strawberries baked in they were topped with whipped cream sans strawberry slices. 

Once these babies are frosted make sure to pop them in the fridge so the whipped cream "frosting" doesn't melt!

Look at how cutesie these cupcakes are! 

Not only do they look good, they taste delightful! The cupcakes with strawberries baked in were a little more moist than the ones with out and the brandy was untraceable in the spongecake and whipped cream (maybe we'll add more next time, maybe not). 

As with every cupcake our Strawberry Short Cupcakes are best fresh when the whipped cream "frosting" is still fresh and the strawberries are still juicy!