Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes

Strawberry rhubarb cupcakes are the perfect dessert for spring and summer! They have a fresh strawberry cupcake base, are filled with a strawberry rhubarb compote, and are topped with a whipped fresh strawberry buttercream frosting.

We recently prestigious my moms 70th birthday. Nonflexible to believe shes hit that milestone, and no one really does believe shes that age when they see her! We threw a small party for her and our supplies theme was lots of fruit, veggies and herbs; all things she loves. While discussing dessert options with my little sister, this idea to make strawberry rhubarb cupcakes popped into my head, and so of undertow it had to be done.

I based this recipe off my fresh strawberry layer cake, that unchangingly gets rave reviews. I filled them with a strawberry rhubarb compote and topped them with fresh strawberry whipped buttercream. For any strawberry rhubarb lovers out there, these cupcakes are a must have! They were loved by all.

What is compote?

Compote is fresh (or frozen) cut up fruit cooked with sugar on the stove. It cooks lanugo and thickens slightly into a sauce. It can be used on ice cream, yogurt, waffles, oatmeal, or in cupcakes.

When I made the strawberry rhubarb compote, I wanted the rhubarb savor to stand out a little more, so theres increasingly rhubarb than strawberries in it. You could moreover just do a rhubarb compote if youre a rhubarb lover. I know a lot of people dont love rhubarb the way I do, so I decided to temper it a bit with some strawberries.

You moreover may need to retread the sugar level of the compote, depending on the sweetness of your strawberries. I found a little less than half a cup worked well.

The compote can be made superiority and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Whipped Strawberry Buttercream

Whipped buttercream is my favorite frosting! Its fluffy and linty and easy to make. Its lighter, and a bit less sweet, than traditional buttercream. I think whipped buttercream is similar to swiss meringue buttercream, but so much easier to make! I love swiss meringue buttercream, but man, it can be nonflexible for it to come together sometimes.

The key is to really whip the frosting, not add too much powdered sugar (it will wilt too sweet), and add as much fresh strawberry puree as you can without making the buttercream too thin.

Strawberry Puree

For the strawberry puree, I originally just removed the stems from the strawberries, roughly chopped them, and then pureed them until smooth with a blender. I used the puree in the confection thrash and frosting, just like that, no other steps. This works fine, Ive washed-up it numerous times, so its fine to just make and use the puree like this.

Recently though, I started cooking lanugo the strawberries a bit, just to get a slightly thicker sauce. I just put the chopped strawberries in a saucepan over medium low heat and stir constantly. Once they start to unravel lanugo a bit, I use an immersion blender to puree them until smooth. Once the sauce has thickened some, I remove from heat, let it cool, and use it like that.

I do finger like using the cooked lanugo puree adds a bit increasingly strawberry flavor, expressly with the frosting. Youre worldly-wise to add a little increasingly without it making the frosting too thin. The strawberry puree is moreover something you could make ahead.

Print

Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes

Fresh strawberry cupcakes, filled with a strawberry rhubarb compote, and topped with a whipped fresh strawberry buttercream frosting.

Servings 30 cupcakes, approximately

Ingredients

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote:

• 2 cups rhubarb, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup strawberries, stems removed and roughly chopped
• 7 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Strawberry Cupcakes:

• 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 1-1/2  teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2-1/2 cups cake flour
• 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup strawberry puree made from fresh strawberries*, room temperature

Whipped Strawberry Buttercream:

• 3 sticks (24 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 5 tablespoons strawberry puree, room temperature

Instructions

For the strawberry rhubarb compote:

• The compote can be made superiority and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan over medium low heat.
• Heat, stirring occasionally until the fruit softens and is whence to unravel down.
• Increase the heat to medium. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the mixture reaches a light boil. Reduce heat when lanugo to medium low.
• Allow to simmer for flipside 10 minutes or so, until the mixture has reduced and juices wilt thick. (Cook it longer for thicker sauce).
• Remove from heat and let cool. 

For the cupcakes:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Line cupcake pans with paper liners. (I get well-nigh 30 cupcakes from this recipe).
• In a large measuring glass or small bowl, combine egg whites, 1/4 cup of the milk and vanilla extract; set aside.
• In the trencher of an electric mixer, stir together confection flour, sugar, sultry powder and salt, on low for well-nigh 30 seconds.
• Add butter, keeping mixer on low speed and subtracting one cube at a time.
• Add remaining 1/4 cup of milk and strawberry puree and tousle on medium speed until butter is mixed in.
• Add the egg white/milk/vanilla mixture a little at a time (divide it into well-nigh 3 additions), mixing well at medium speed for well-nigh 20 seconds without each addition. (Batter should be smooth, but don't over mix!)
• Fill liners with batter. Each liner should be a little over half full.
• Bake well-nigh 16-18 minutes, rotating position of pans halfway through, or until a toothpick inserted in part-way of cupcake comes out clean.
• Allow to tomfool in pans for well-nigh 10 minutes.
• Remove cupcakes from pans and set on wire rack to tomfool completely.

For the whipped buttercream:

• In the trencher of an electric mixer, write-up butter on medium speed for 8 minutes. Butter will wilt very stake and creamy.
• Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, mixing without each addition.
• Add vanilla pericope and strawberry puree, mix on low until combined. Then turn mixer up to medium and write-up for 6 minutes. Frosting will wilt very light & fluffy.
• You can add a little increasingly powdered sugar or a little increasingly pureed strawberries to thicken/thin the frosting if necessary. Be very shielding well-nigh subtracting in too much strawberry puree, a little at a time is best.

To hoke cupcakes:

• Cut a small round piece out of the tops of each cooled cupcake and pour in 1 teaspoon of cooled strawberry rhubarb compote. Replace the confection piece and set cupcakes aside. (I use a cupcake corer to cut out the part-way of the cupcakes).
• Top filled cupcakes with whipped strawberry buttercream. I like to use a large round frosting tip or 1M tip to pipe on the frosting.

Notes

*To puree strawberries: place washed strawberries (with stems removed) in supplies processor and puree until smooth. You can moreover melt lanugo the strawberries to thicken the puree. Read increasingly details in the blog post. 

If you love strawberries, be sure to try this Fresh Strawberry Layer Cake. And this Rhubarb Confection with Vanilla Sauce is a must have during rhubarb season!

-Manda

The post Strawberry Rhubarb Cupcakes appeared first on The Merrythought.