Strawberry Short(cup)cake

This is our cupcake version of a strawberry shortcake!

Of course we use real strawberries... which means this is a limited offering.

Once strawberry season ends, we'll have to wait until next year!

Vanilla Cupcakes, with Mild Strawberry Buttercream

When the little girl is bored, she gets really "makulit".  When I get bored, I read... or go to the kitchen.

This time, I was craving vanilla cupcakes.  But I didn't want any ordinary vanilla cupcakes... I wanted one with a hint of... strawberry... not in the cupcake but in the frosting...

So here are my cupcakes out of the oven... I think they look gorgeous!

And here's the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream with a hint of strawberry... (though you wouldn't know by seeing it because the frosting looks a bit orange-y but trust me I loved the hint... yes, just a hint... of strawberry in the icing!)

Yummmmyyyy!

Loaded Strawberry Shortcake

This is a cake inspired by something I had a taste of on an out-of-town trip.  That particular cake was a 2 layer strawberry chiffon cake, filled with whipped cream and chopped strawberries, and frosted with whipped cream, topped with slices of fresh strawberries.

Now, I don't particularly like strawberries, unless they are really sweet, and only then if they're dipped in a specific blend of cream, but when I saw the (really) big, plump, really red strawberries at the local market in Baguio, I bought 2 kilos!!!  Price be dxxxxd,  I was determined to make MY strawberry shortcake!  One that is chock-full of strawberries!  From the cake itself, to the filling, frosting, topping... EVERYTHING!

So here are the (2 kilos) strawberries, hulled and cleaned - the smaller ones got chopped, while the larger ones were reserved for the cake topping.

Presenting...  my creation - which I fondly call THE

Loaded Strawberry Shortcake...

3 layers of strawberry chiffon cake (no added flavorings or color!), filled with strawberry cream, with chopped (fresh) strawberries, frosted with strawberry whipped cream, and topped with fresh strawberries!

A peek inside the cake -

And, as usual, I did not add any preservatives, artificial flavors or colors.  So, the cake layers did not have a pink hue, rather the cake layers were more yellowish.  The strawberry cream filling had pureed strawberries as well as chopped strawberries.  The whipped cream is strawberry as well (you can see the strawberry bits) but both filling and frosting are pale pink due to the "natural coloring" of the strawberries.

The only "problem" with this cake?  The lack of supply of fresh strawberries in the local market.  This cake was made with about 2 kilos of strawberries!  Talk about being loaded!!!  But the cost really is  prohibitive!!!

But I would like to offer this cake.  It's just too yummy not to share... I just have to figure out how (and without skimping on the strawberries!). :)

Black Chocolate Cupcakes with (the BEST) Strawberry Buttercream

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful fairy princess (read as:  beloved daughter) who asked her equally beautiful mommy (read as: all powerful queen... of the household) for a pink flower cake (chocolate, of course!) and Tinkerbell.

Now, the mommy had a bit of a problem with this request because she didn't want to put artificial coloring in the cake so how could it be pink?

Then one day, while the fairy princess and her mommy were taking a stroll around the marketplace, they chanced upon... strawberries... red, plump, fragrant strawberries!  Did I mention that the strawberries were bright RED?

DING! went a bell in mommy's head!  A strawberry infused icing would be, at the very least, pale pink... PINK!!!

And so, they went to work to make the sought-after pink flower cake.  Of course, the fairy princess had to have cupcakes to give to her friends, so the (beautiful and all powerful) queen made some cupcakes too...

And, the cupcakes had to follow the same theme of chocolate and pink flowers...

See the lovely pink flower on top of the cupcake?  See the lovely dots of strawberry bits?

See the rest of the cupcakes all lined up in their pink glory?

The fairy princess was very happy.  And proud!

What about her mommy, the queen?  Well, her heart soared as she heard the fairy princess whisper:  "Thank you Mommy!"

The End.