Summer has come to Tennessee and it has a certain smell- poignant and nostalgic. For me, it is freshly cut grass, chlorine and very ripe strawberries.
On Sunday I went strawberry picking with Rebekka. The fields were absolutely lush with fruit and I was reminded of this poem; I wanted all the strawberries for myself!
"Look how beautiful this one is, Dad!" a little girl yelled out. The sun beat down on us and we were happy.
What better to go with strawberries than butter and basil, really? It's a romantic combination.
Browned Butter and Strawberry Cupcakes with Ricotta Basil Buttercream
Yeild: 38 mini cupcakes
For the cake-
1 1/2 cups flour, sifted (all-purpose, please!)
1t baking powder
1/2 cup 2% milk
1t vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
3/4 cup cane sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/3 cup fresh strawberry puree (about 6 large strawberries)
extra strawberries for slicing
Preheat oven to 325. Sift flour and baking powder into a small bowl and sit eggs out so that they come to room temperature. In a pan, melt butter over medium until froth forms on the top. Then watch it like a hawk! Remove from heat immediately when it starts smelling like heaven and brown bits form on the bottom. Let cool. Puree strawberries and mix with milk and vanilla. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs and beat on medium until just bubbly, about 2 minutes. Add half of flour and beat until barely combined. Mix in strawberry mixture. Fold the rest of the flour into the batter with a rubber spatula. Do NOT over mix! This will make your cupcakes tough. Yuck!
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and put a big, juicy slice of strawberry vertically down the middle. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until cupcakes are set in the middle.
For the buttercream-
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup good quality ricotta cheese
handful (6-8 large leaves) fresh basil
Put 4T (half a stick) of butter in the microwave until melted, about 20 seconds. Tear basil roughly with your hands and add to the butter. Let this cool enough to re-solidify. In a small bowl, combine basil butter with plain butter and whip with a hand mixer until basil breaks apart into small pieces and butter turns a much lighter color. Add sugar. Beat. Add ricotta and beat until combined. Pipe buttercream onto cupcakes modestly. A little bit of this stuff goes a long way.
Enjoy!
6 comments:
OMG HELLO GORGEOUS!!!! look at you!!!!!
you look so grown up
love it, love all of it (A+ for the earrings), jealous/ bummed i missed it!!
I'll definitely try to make these! Soon!!
And your blog looks... Delicious!
Love.
Yay! I ahve been waiting for this recipe and it sounds heavenly. I am making these delightful little cupcakes this weekend! Thank you for sharing.
I love the apron!
Amanda Rose
http://sewmuchtosay.blogspot.com
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