Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting~ Purely From Scratch

When visiting cupcake shops, I almost always opt for a strawberry cupcake if one is on the menu {not that I stop at just one cupcake}.  Ever since a friend made me a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting for my birthday when I was in sixth grade, strawberry has been my favorite.  Funny thing is, I'm absolutely certain she used a boxed mixed and canned frosting.  And for years I have been on a mission to make a purely from scratch strawberry cake recipe~ no boxed mixes, no strawberry jello, just old~fashioned, homemade strawberry cake.  Sadly, success has not come quickly.


Fresh, ripe, huge strawberries and a little helper are key to making your own strawberry cupcakes.

This past winter I treated myself to the Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook purely to try the cupcake recipes.  I made the birthday ones and my husband raved about them.  I have yet to make their strawberry ones.  I'm acting like my two year old and being quite stubborn, insisting that I know what I want in a strawberry cupcake.



I looked over some recipes for other cupcakes and cakes that I really like that involve fruit, trying to mimic some of them.  After a few trials {deflated cupcakes, lack of strawberry taste, etc.}, I decided to keep this recipe.  It is more of a pound cake and does not have a fine cupcake crumb, but it is moist and strawberryful and a pretty, all natural pink.  Oh, I forgot to say they are quite tasty, too.

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup pureed, strawberry puree

Strawberry Frosting {recipe follows}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cupcake pans (24 cupcakes) with liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend cream cheese on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add the eggs and mix until just blended.

Add half of the flour mixture to cream cheese blend and fold in til lightly combined; add half of the puree and fold in lightly.  Continue with the remaining flour mixture and puree, just to combine all ingredients.  Scrape bottom and sides of bowl and incorporate into batter.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 20~25 minutes, until tops spring back when touched. Cool completely before frosting.  Makes 24~28 cupcakes.

Strawberry Frosting
8 oz butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 tbsp strawberry preserves
6~8 c powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth.  Add one tablespoon of preserves and two cups of powdered sugar.  Blend to combine well.  Continue adding preserves, one tablespoon at a time, and sugar, two cups at a time, blending between each addition until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes.  Refrigerate cupcakes until serving.  Allow cupcakes to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before enjoying.

Tips and Tricks~
*Use an ice cream scoop to quickly, neatly and accurately fill cupcake tins.
*Fold in flour and puree by hand, not with a mixer.  Over mixing will ruin your cupcakes.
*To make strawberry puree, use fresh sliced strawberries with no added water.  I like my Kitchenaid hand held blender for this job.  It has a handy measuring cup to mix it in so measuring is simple.
*I found that 3 cups of sliced strawberries equaled 1 1/2 cups of puree each time I made these.
*These are an excellent choice for spring and summertime parties~ not to sweet and so pretty.

Root Beer Float Cupcakes

Sometimes an idea will come to me, and I will get so excited and think I am just brilliant.  I think I have an original idea.  Something never before thought of.  Something all together new.  And I'm always wrong.  There is nothing new under the sun.

Talking with my children the other day, an idea came to me for a cupcake.  Never before had I heard of a root beer float cupcake.  I told my children about it and they thought I was the most wonderfully creative person in the world.  The more I thought about the recipe and what how to decorate it, I decided I must not have a very unique idea.  But I refused to search and see if I indeed had a new idea or not.  I was determined to make my own root beer float creation.  Then I would see what others had done.

I was pleased when one of my sons told me more than once that the cupcakes I made actually taste like root beer floats.  I don't know if I would say they taste just like a root beer float, but they come close.  The cupcakes are moist with a slight spice and taste reminiscent of root beer {and they should since the batter contains root beer}.  And I think they are rather cute.  If you make them, let me know what you think.

Oh, and I was certainly not the first to come up with this idea.  I searched after I finished my creation and found many, many other root beer float cupcakes.  Here are a few different ones that captured my attention~

Root Beer Float Cupcakes from Better Homes and Garden

Root Beer Float Cupcakes from Bakingdom

Root Beer Float Cupcakes from Baking Bites

Root Beer Float Cupcakes
2 1/2 c flour
1 c brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
12 oz root beer
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 recipe butter cream frosting {follows}

Preheat oven to 350F.
Whisk together dry ingredients {from flour to cloves}, breaking up any large clumps of brown sugar.  Add wet ingredients {root beer to vanilla}; blend to combine all ingredients, then mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Divide batter between 24 lined cupcake tins.  Bake in preheated oven for 14~18 minutes.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing.  Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Butter Cream Frosting
1 c butter, softened
4 c powdered sugar
1/4 c whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter.  Add 1 cup powdered sugar and blend well.  Add another cup of powdered sugar and blend.  Add half of the cream; whip til smooth and fluffy.  Add vanilla and remainder of sugar and cream; whip til smooth and fluffy.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes

For a few years cupcakes have been all the craze. I've seen so many varieties, some which look delicious and others leave me wondering who would eat such things. The craze seems to be cooling off a bit, but that doesn't keep me from making them. My children sure like them and I'm certain would be quite disappointed if I stopped making various cupcake creations.

Sometime ago I made peanut butter cupcakes for my nephew's birthday. It was his 18th birthday,but he loved them {peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are his favorite}. I topped each with a bit of jelly before frosting them with a creamy peanut butter frosting. They were tasty, but messy. I haven't made them since, but have wanted to with some improvements. I finally got around to fixing them up. In addition, I've come across a great post on making whipped cream that would be a delicious topping for these cupcakes: Easy Ways to Make Whipped Cream.

The batter bakes up moist and fluffy with a slightly crispy top, almost like you have toasted your bread for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The point of improving these was to keep them from being so messy while eating them {who wants jelly on his shirt}. That problem was solved by frosting the cupcake with just a ring of peanut butter frosting . . .

then filling the circle with jelly.

It worked beautifully.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
2 1/2 c flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 c brown sugar
1 c peanut butter
1/4 c vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
peanut butter frosting {recipe below}
1 c strawberry preserves

frosting recipe from allrecipes
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c creamy peanut butter
4 c powdered sugar
1/3 c whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl. Set aside.
Place sugar, peanut butter, and oil in bowl of stand mixer. Stir with paddle attachment to combine. Add eggs and beat til smooth. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and stir to combine; while stirring, add 1/3 of the milk. Continue until all flour and milk have been adding, scraping sides of bowl between each addition. Add vanilla and blend on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Divide batter between 24 lined muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, until edges are golden. Cool in pans for 10 minutes; remove from pan and let cool completely before frosting.

While cupcakes are cooling, make frosting. Place butter and peanut butter in mixer bowl; whip until fluffy. Add 2 cups powdered sugar and wh1ip til fluffy. Add 1/4 c cream and beat. Add remaining powdered sugar and cream; whip til fluffy. Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes, just around the edge {I used a 1M tip}. Fill centers with a small spoonful of jelly.

He went straight for the jelly.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes With Vanilla Glaze

I have been obsessed with Pinterest lately, but it is a rather creative obsession. One of the things that caught my attention was a cupcake decorated to look like an ornament. Unfortunately, when I clicked on this particular pin, it brought me nowhere. So, I did some more searching. Mainly I was searching for what had been used as the hook attachment on the cupcake. And, I found nothing. Then I noticed in a picture {again, no web site, just a random numbered image} that some genius had used Rolos to represent the hook attachment. So I set to work on making a Christmas ornament cupcake.

A day after I made these my daughter brought one of her sister's cookbooks, a candy cookbook. There was the exact picture I had seen on the internet! I am quite happy that I had not found this before, because I learned that the cupcakes were decorated with fondant. I am not one to use fondant. I never have, and I don't think I ever will. You see, I am not a cake/cupcake decorator. I like simplicity.

I needed a cupcake that would standout because of its taste and texture but also one that could be easily decorated As I brainstormed, snickerdoodles came to mind. Vanilla. . . cinnamon. . . sugar. . . that's the taste of festivities. So I searched for a snickerdoodle cupcake recipe and I found some. But the first one or two I looked at didn't have great reviews for texture. What to do? I decided to make my own recipe that would feature the secret ingredient of moist cupcakes~ instant vanilla pudding mix. And, I already knew what I wanted to top these with~ vanilla glaze {which I have used to top sweet rolls for a simplified version of a donut}.

The cupcake recipe is one that gives a nice dome which I know so many may work to eliminate. The dome was needed because the cupcake isn't topped with a pile of frosting. Instead, the glaze clings to the cupcake and dries to a smooth finish, much like a glass surface.


Do you know what? I was so pleased with the outcome. These cupcakes taste exactly like snickerdoodle cookies. And without the frosting, they would be an incredible snickerdoodle muffin. Even with my sad decorating skills, the cupcakes turned out pleasant enough. I added a smidgen more gel food coloring than I wanted, but the blue was rich. I also heated the glaze a wee bit longer than I should have so the glaze was speckled. The children really liked the effect though. My son said it looked like a blue jade.


They are real simple even without a recipe. Start with a basic cupcake recipe or a box mix and add instant vanilla pudding mix and cinnamon to the batter. After baking and cooling, dip cupcakes in glaze. Allow the glaze to dry. You could stop here and would have an entirely delicious cupcake. But with the next few steps you could have a Christmas ornament cupcake, too. Whip up a batch of frosting, any decorating frosting will do. I used the Best Butter Cream Frosting from the snowman cupcakes I love to make. Fill a piping bag fitted with a small hole tip. Pipe on dots and swirls. Finally, take a Rolo candy and add a dollop of frosting. Attach to the top of the cupcake as the ornament hook. Ta~da!


Snickerdoodle Cupcakes With Vanilla Glaze
2 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1 3.9 oz pkg of vanilla instant pudding mix
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 12 fl oz can evaporated milk {may sub 1 1/2 c whole milk}
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
glaze {recipe follows}

Preheat oven to 350F.
Place dry ingredients {flour, sugar, pudding mix, baking powder, salt and cinnamon} in a large bowl. Whisk together. Add wet ingredients {milk, oil and eggs}; blend together on low then increase to high speed and blend for two minutes. Batter will be on the thicker side. Divide between twenty-four paper lined cupcake tins each filled about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing. Cool completely before decorating.

Vanilla Glaze
3/4 c {1 1/2 sticks} butter
4 c powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2+ tbsp milk

Melt butter in small saucepan. Whisk powdered sugar and vanilla into melted butter; add milk and whisk till smooth adding more milk as needed. Dip tops of cooled cupcakes. Decorate with hard candies or sprinkles before set. If decorating with icing, let glaze set before adding. If glaze thickens, reheat a bit and add a tad more milk. Whisk between dipping.

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Sweet~Tart Cupcakes

For the past few years I have helped with bake sales at my children's school to help raise funds for drama productions. I have an incredibly creative friend who helps with this, both in baking and coming up with fabulous ideas for treats and promoting the sales. When we found out the play this year would be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we knew we needed some extra spectacular ideas for bake sales.


Searching in the blogosphere, I found Crybaby Kool-Aid Cupcakes. Wow! Incredible, intense, instant hit with the kids! This lady has some amazing ideas for cupcakes.

I made a few changes and unfortunately not for the better. The idea of the cupcakes sounded terrific and looked fabulous, but my children were disappointed with the results. I was not hindered, though. After some testing and changes, I got a huge thumbs up.

He may not look like he is smiling but that is just the first hit of the sourness.
He LOVED these!

Notes About this Recipe
*Loved the rich color from the kool-aid mix but did not like the effect on the texture of the cupcakes or the frosting. Opted for a lemon cupcake instead.
*Excellent texture, fluffs up and keeps shape.
*Frosting is great, not as sweet as I usually make with all butter. Surprisingly pleased with it.
*Sour then sweet! Just a quick sour bite from the dusted frosting followed by not-to-sweet icing atop a lemony cupcake.

The key is the malic acid that you can find on line. I ordered from Pure Bulk (suggested by the Cook Book Queen). Just fyi, for about $9 you get a rather small packet, but a little goes a long way. Mixed with lemon flavored, unsweetened Kool-Aid mix, this is just the pucker enhancer needed to make these sweet~tart cupcakes!



Sweet Tart Cupcakes
1 box white cake mix
1 3.4 oz box lemon pudding mix
1 c water
4 egg whites
1/4 c vegetable oil
Decorators' Frosting (recipe follows)
2 packets unsweetened lemon Kool-Aid mix
3 tbsp malic acid
sour candies (suggest sour Skittles)

Combine all ingredients in bowl. Stir to mix; beat with mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scoop into cupcake liners. Using an ice cream scoop to fill liners, I made 22 cupcakes.

Bake in 350 F oven for 18 minutes. Remove and cool completely before decorating.

Mix malic acid and kool-aid mix together. Frost cupcakes but do not sprinkle malic acid mix until ready to serve. Top with sour candies.



Decorator's Frosting
1 c crisco shortening, room temperature
1 c butter, room temperature
6 c powder sugar
1/4 c whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
food coloring, optional

Cream butter and crisco till smooth. Add sugar two cups of sugar and blend well; add two more, blend, two more, then blend. Scrape bowl in between each addition. Add whipping cream, vanilla and salt. Slowly mix to incorporate cream then increase speed to medium and mix well until frosting stiffens 2-5 minutes. Add food coloring and mix completely.

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Cupcakes are great fun for adults and children alike. They can be tailored to any taste and level of maturity. This latest cupcake endeavor was inspired by a few things. First, wintry weather immediately brings about thoughts of penguins in my mind. Thoughts of penguins were also inspired by my toddler who has been watching Madagascar everyday for the last two weeks. In this movie penguins are portrayed as mischievous little escape artists. Leading me to thoughts of penguins portrayed with cupcakes. Finally, my two year old spoke up at the dinner table one night and said, "Penguins can talk, right?" That was it. I knew I had to make some penguin cupcakes.

Recently I made another winter themed cupcake, Snowman Cupcakes, but this was mostly a decorating idea. I wanted to make the penguin cupcakes more of an entire cupcake treat beginning with the batter and following through all the way to the top of the beautiful cupcake. Unfortunately after decorating, the penguins were not beautiful. But thankfully the cupcakes were delicious. With a few decorating changes, I was left with a delectable and delightful Cookies and Cream Cupcake. I based the recipe on one I found for boxed cake mix batter.


The cupcake was light, but not too fluffy. And the taste was not sugary sweet like many cake batters can be, but instead was more like a muffin. The buttercream frosting complimented not only the light taste and texture of the cupcake, but the pure white of the frosting contrasted perfectly with the black Oreo cookie half that topped each cupcake. Truly the taste of these cupcakes are not for children alone. Trust me on this. Make these cupcakes. Try one.


Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
2 1/2 c sifted all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c vegetable oil
3 egg whites, whipped till fluffy
1 c whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 batch Best Buttercream Frosting
24 Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 21 cupcake tins. Take 12 Oreo cookies and break into chunks. Don't complete crush, just break into a few pieces and keep the white cream. Set aside. Split the remaining Oreo cookies apart and scrape the cream from the inside; discard the cream. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk together. Add milk, oil and vanilla extract. Mix on medium high for 2 minutes. Fold in egg white and stir gently. Fold in Oreo cookie chunks. Fill the prepared 21 cupcake tins. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.


Ice cupcakes with buttercream frosting. Pile the frosting on, it doesn't have to be neat. Top each cupcake with an Oreo cookie half.

Here are some other great cookie cupcake ideas you might enjoy:
Big Red Kitchen Cookie Dough Cupcakes
Scweet 'n' Savory Cookies and Cream Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Kitchen Klique Mint Chocolate "Cupcake"
Peanut Shell Samoa Cookie Cupcakes
Good Things Catered Cookie Monster Cupcakes

Snowman Cupcakes With the Best Buttercream Frosting

Cupcakes can be incredibly fun to decorate but may also easily be a huge hassle. If using icing alone, I do not produce an attractive product, much less a photo worthy one. Nevertheless, cupcakes are pleasing to decorate because one does not have to use icing alone to decorate with.

Here is an example~
The Snowman Cupcake


Is he not completely adorable, so much so that you could just gobble him up. . . literally? And what is even more wonderful about this little guy is how easy he is to create. My nine year old daughter had a fantastic time icing and decorating these cupcakes to share with her friends.


To help you get started, here is the best frosting recipe in case you need one or haven't seen it when I used it for this Bird's Nest Cake. It is just the right sweetness, not overly sugary sweet. And the perfect texture for holding its shape after it has been smoothed on or piped. It gets just a little bit stiff after setting but not crunchy and really holds onto any added garnishes.


Best Buttercream Frosting
1 c butter, room temperature
1 c vegetable shortening
6 c powder sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz heavy whipping cream

Place butter and shortening in mixer. Beginning on low speed and gradually increasing to a high speed, whip for 10 minutes until light and fluffy. Lower speed to lowest setting and mix in powder sugar one cup at a time until well blended. Add vanilla. Increase speed to medium and slowly add whipping cream. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for 8-10 minutes until light but stiff. This makes an ample amount of icing for at least 24 cupcakes.


Snowman Cupcakes
Twizzler Rope
Life Saver Hard Candies
Chocolate Chips
Mini Chocolate Chips
Orange Slice Gummy Candies
raw sugar {for dipping}

After you have given each cupcake {any flavor you care to make} a good layer of frosting, roll them in raw sugar to give each a snowy effect. Set to the side.


Pull the Twizzler rope apart and cut each rope into thirds. This will be used to connect the Life Saver ear muffs. Also, slice the orange slice gummy candies into wedges then each wedge into halves; these will become little 'carrot' noses.


Place a third Twizzler rope segment at the edge of an iced, sugared cupcake and gently press into the icing to hold. Add a Life Saver hard candy to each end of the rope at the sides of the cupcake to create a pair of ear muffs.

Use two chocolate chips to form eyes for your snowman and five mini chocolate chips to make the mouth. Place the chocolate chips upside down, so that the tip of the chip is in the frosting.

Lastly, place an orange wedge piece in the center of the snowman's face for his nose. You could stick this straight up or lay it on its side, whatever suits your fancy.

Now you have an adorable snowman cupcake to give away or enjoy yourself. I immediately wrapped two up for our neighbor's little boys. I have found that the easiest way to package cupcakes neatly is to place them in a small clear plastic cup, the sort you use for punch. Then the cupcake in a cup can be placed in a bag and tied closed for gift giving.


Hoping you have a happy holiday season!

A Buggy Birthday Party

Four children's birthday parties down in the past few weeks, one more to go! My youngest turned two a few days ago. He has been interested in living things, but not ones that are larger than he is {unless they are his family members}. So I thought it would be great to have a bug birthday party for him. The funny things is, and I did not realize it until we picked up his balloons, that he does not like bugs! He was a bit terrified by the smiling lady bug balloon. Despite that oversight, he had a great day.

For younger children, I believe it is best {and sanest} to keep to fewer guests, so we only invited some family members to the celebration. We still had games and lots of food. The food was very much geared towards the younger crowd, but the adults thought it was not only adorable, but surprisingly tasty.

Food
I love coming up with cute foods for little kids to eat. I think if it looks fun, they will try it and eat it!

 
Ant Hill~
1 cup cream cheese, 1 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup chocolate chips mixed together and formed into a cheese ball. Roll the cheese ball in graham cracker crumbs, then poke a hole in the top. Place a line of chocolate sprinkles from the ant hill hole, down the side and around the edges. For an extra cute touch, sprinkle praline crunch around the bottom of the cheese ball. Serve with Bug Bites {graham cracker bug shapes}.

 
Caterpillar Kabobs~
Again, sweet and simple. Ball a canteloupe and a honeydew, then thread onto a wooden skewer.

 
Ants on a Stump~
An apple, sliced into rings, then cored; dip in lemon juice to keep from browning. Drizzle a bit of honey around the top {sap, of course}, then add some craisins. These were very tasty.

 
Dragonflies~
Celery stick with four mini heart-shaped pretzels attached with spray cheese {I don't know what it is really called}.

 
Centipede Sandwich~
Super hero sliced and shaped into curving shape with pickles added under and on the side of each piece for legs, green olives for eyes and celery sticks for antennae.

I think this looked more like a sick fish or turtle, but it tasted great!

Bug Juice~
I simply served limeonade. It is green. It is sweet. The children liked it.


Games and Activities


Put the Spot on the Lady Bug~ Very simple, just like the donkey version
Cut out from red poster board a ladybug shape. Add a head and face if you like. All you need are enough black spots {cut from black poster board or construction paper} for each participant to have one or two.

Buzz, Buzz, Sting!~ Again, like the traditional game, just different words
This is very easy for little ones to play, even if they don't catch on to taking the seat in the correct place.

Making Antennae~ Simple, creative, and fun
Only four things needed for these cute little things~ headband, pipecleaners, pompoms, and glue. Securely wrap one end of each of two pipecleaners around the top of the headband. Then glue one pompom to the other end of each pipecleaner. Allow to dry for a few minutes before wearing.

Other Ideas
We did not have time to get to other games I had planned to play, but here are some of them for those interested.

Bug eating contest~ Fill a plate full of chocolate sprinkles or other colorful sprinkles. With hands behind backs, children eat the sprinkles as quickly as possible. If you have various ages, give the older children more sprinkles than the younger ones.

Caterpillar Crawl~ Children, one at a time, manuever through an obstacle course or just across the room while in a sleeping bag.

Decorations and Cake
These were simple. Green tablecloth with little plastic bugs. Plates and forks and balloons in bright colors. The most elaborate decoration were the napkins.

A wooden clothes {not the spring kind} was used as the body of a butterfly. A bright yellow napkin {any color could be used} was folded accordion style, gathered in the middle, then inserted into the middle of the clothes pin. The napkin was spread apart to form the wings of the butterfly.


The caterpillar cake was made from about eighteen cupcakes, each iced in either bright yellow, green or blue. They were arranged to form a caterpillars body with the front one decorated with m&m's as eyes, nose and mouth. I few slivers of chocolate bar were used as antennae.

The cupcakes were perfect for serving up cake and ice cream quickly.

Hopefully these ideas will be helpful for your own buggy birthday party.

He wasn't so fond of this happy lady bug. I don't blame him; she kind of looks freaky.

Under the Cherry Blossoms~ A Family Picnic with Black Cherry Cupcakes

The cherry blossoms are in peak bloom now, and my family has been wanting to do something fun. So today we went down to DC for a picnic beneath the cherry blossoms.


These were everyone's favorite treat to eat {see the end of post for the recipe}.

But these are what we came to see.






We all enjoyed our festive meal under the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin.

Cherry Blossom Picnic Menu

~Cherry Chicken Salad with Croissants~
a simple mixture of rotisserie chicken, chopped dried cherries and mayonnaise

~Mincemeat Pies~
seasoned browned ground beef with dried fruit and sweet young peas baked in single serve pie crusts, brushed with an egg wash

~Spring Vegetable Pasta Salad~
fusilli pasta with your favorite vinaigrette tossed with frozen peas, fresh steamed asparagus pieces, green onions and shredded carrots

~Festive Leaf Lettuce Salad~

a bunch of leaf lettuce with sweet dried cherries, crumbled feta and an easy vinaigrette {1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup grape seed oil, 1 tsp thyme, 2 tablespoons of honey}

~Black Cherry Cupcakes~
pureed sweet black cherries make these an extra special treat {see below for recipe}

~Pink Lemonade and Sweet Iced Tea~

Black Cherry Cupcakes Recipe
from Schweet 'n' Savory
Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup Raw Can Sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup pureed, frozen black cherries

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together milk, vanilla, and 1 cup of the black cherry puree; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until well combined and fluffy. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add the eggs and mix until just blended.

With the mixer on low, slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the milk mixture; mix until just blended. Slowly add remaining flour mixture, scraping down sides of the bowl with a spatula, as necessary, until just blended. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Transfer muffin tin to oven and bake until tops are just dry to the touch, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

 
Buttercream Frosting for 12 Cupcakes
1 stick of butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 ounces heavy whipping cream

Whip butter until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in powdered sugar; blend well. Add salt and vanilla; blend. Scrape sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, add whipping cream and increase speed to medium high; beat for 2 minutes.


Fill pastry bag with frosting and ice cupcakes. Embellish with sprinkles.