Strawberry Picking and Cupcakes to Swoon Over

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!