I love summer. I love the sunshine and the trips to various bodies of water. I love not having to wear 15 different layers just to keep warm. I even love that the sun gently wakes me up with the singing birds way to early in the morning. I love that the farmer's markets are open, and that strawberries are pretty much everywhere. Strawberries are on my top five list for sure, and so when I saw some super sweet reds on sale the other day, I bought a few too many...

I then remembered that we were planning on leaving town for a week, and so the pressure was on to create something so they wouldn't go completely to waste. I love eating them on their own, but they are always fun to add to things too.

Inspired by these funfetti cupcakes from Minimalist Baker, I decided to take on the challenge and add a strawberry flare to a cupcake. 

I have always had a fascination with strawberry cupcakes. When I was young, I remember someone making some from a package, and I was smitten. Since my mom is a fantastic baker, I only got those cupcakes once or twice after that. I think the part that I really loved was the colour, because they never truly tasted like real strawberries. 

I didn't expect that these would turn out like the ones from a box - especially since I skipped on the dyes and strawberry preserves. I just wanted the taste of a strawberry, and the satisfaction that I could do it. Sometimes, I just need to prove myself to myself, you know?

Anyway, I had zero idea what I was doing, and they turned out great. I have had really bad experiences with vegan cupcakes in the past being bland and dry. My favourite part about these is that they are so moist! To me, there is nothing worse than a dry crumbly cupcake. I also will admit to licking the spoon when I was done...

These aren't exactly the healthiest for you, so don't bake them every week, but I figured my strawberries needed to go to a sweet cause, and sharing sugar once in a while is okay, right? Especially on a long weekend.

PS: My favourite part is the icing. Sure, I can only handle a bit of it, but the strawberry flavour really came out, which makes me extremely happy. I was doing a happy dance when I saw the perfect results!

Delicious Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 cup non-dairy milk + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter (such as Earth Balance), softened

• 3/4 cup cane sugar

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/3 cup strawberry puree (I just put strawberries in the food processor)

• A few strawberries, chopped (optional)

For the Icing:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Earth Balance, softened

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 TBSP strawberry puree*

*Note: I boiled down the strawberry puree to get rid of as much water as I could to avoid a runny icing. It worked perfectly. 

what to do:

1) Preheat oven (350 degrees F) and line muffin tin with liners
2) Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar and allow sit
3) Cream the vegan butter with a hand mixer. Add vanilla and sugar and beat until fluffy.
4) Beat in dry ingredients and milk mixture. Mix until there are no lumps. 
5) Add strawberry puree and fold in strawberry pieces. 
6) Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7) Allow to cool completely on cooling rack. They must be completely cooled before being iced. 
8) Prepare icing by beating the softened butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly add in the confectioner's sugar. Add puree. 
9) Add icing to icing bag and place in refrigerator for at least ten minutes before icing cupcakes.

Inspired by Minimalist Baker

My chocolate-loving husband has requested a chocolate cupcake next, so I'd better get on it, eh?

What about you? Do you love fresh strawberries as much as I do? Willing to try out this recipe and let me know what you think? I can always find you when you use #MapleAlps :)

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