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Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

For the cupcake:
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 c sugar
  • 1/4 c powdered sugar
  • 1/2 c olive oil
  • 1/2 c vanilla or plain yogurt
  • 1 1/2 c cake flour
  • 1/2 c almond flour or 2 cups cake flour total
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 c pureed strawberries fresh or frozen
  • 1 c freeze dried strawberries
For the Frosting:
  • 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3/4 c unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, at room temperature
  • 3/4 c heavy cream
  • 3 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1/2 c freeze dried strawberries
  • red food coloring if desired

Method
 

For the cupcakes:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with vanilla extract. Add the cane sugar and whisk for about 1 minute until frothy.
  3. Add the oil, then the pureed berries to the egg mixture.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift and combine the flour, almond flour (if using), powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  5. Grind the freeze dried strawberries in a blender or by crushing against a sieve and combine with the dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry mixture into the wet mixture in the larger bowl.
  6. Add the yogurt and combine well, but be careful to not over mix.
  7. Pour into cupcake pans and bake for 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, and then reduce to 350 F. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick comes out clean. Do not open the oven before 15 minutes of cook time, or cupcakes with collapse in the center.
For the Frosting:
  1. Pour the cream into a small pot over medium- low heat. Slice open the vanilla bean vertically down the length of the bean, and use a knife to scrape out all the beans and add to the cream. Add the remainder of the bean pod to the cream. Simmer for only 5 minutes until fragrant and do not allow to boil or evaporate. Remove the bean pod and strain the cream with a fine sieve if necessary to remove any woody strands from the cream. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.
  2. Whip the butter at medium speed until pale and fluffy.
  3. Add the vanilla extract. Whip at medium then high speed for 1 minute.
  4. Sift the powdered sugar once or twice to remove any clumps and to aerate.
  5. Add the sifted powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing well.
  6. Add the vanilla bean infused cream and stir well.
  7. Grind the freeze dried strawberries in a food processor, blender, or by crushing against a sieve and blend into the frosting. Add red food coloring if deeper pink color is desired.