Strawberry Cupcakes With Macerated Strawberries And Peanut Brittle Recipes

REAL STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray cupcake cups with cooking spray, or line with cupcake liners.
• Place 8 strawberries into a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour the puree through a strainer to remove seeds. Puree should equal about 3/4 cup. Set the puree aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, white sugar, vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, lemon zest, and strawberry puree until well combined. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla pudding mix (for a moister cupcake), and red food coloring to reach a desired shade of pink. Spoon the batter into the prepared cupcake cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cupcakes have risen and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 23 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool at least 10 minutes before frosting.
• To make frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, and mix in confectioners' sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to make a lump-free icing. Frost each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons of icing, and top each cupcake with a strawberry slice.

PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• Optional chocolate decoration:
• Split vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape seeds into a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, along with scraped out pods. Place remaining ingredients in saucepan and place over high heat. Cook to a caramel color while continuously stirring with a wooden spoon. The mixture will become very thick. Pull out the vanilla beans and set aside. Lightly spray the work surface with vegetable cooking spray. If you would like to use metal rulers so the brittle will be rolled to an even thickness, set them into place now. Immediately pour the mixture onto the marble or granite slab (you can also use a parchment paper lined baking sheet). Place a piece of parchment paper over the hot brittle and use a rolling pin to roll the peanut brittle into a 3/8-inch thick flat layer. Use a sharp chef's knife to partially cut the brittle while it is still warm. Allow it to cool completely before coating it with chocolate. It is ready to eat now or you can add chocolate to the outside of the brittle.
• To cover with chocolate: You can use a variety of methods to apply chocolate to the brittle. You could simply place some chocolate into a cornet and drizzle the chocolate over the cool brittle. You could also use a dipping fork to dip each piece of brittle in the chocolate. Whatever method you use, allow the chocolate to set and it is ready to serve.
• From Dessert Circus, Extraordinary Desserts You Can Make At Home by Jacques Torres
• The Cornet: A cornet is a small piping bag made from parchment paper. It is usually used to make fine decorations.
• Cut an 8 by 12 by 14 1/2-inch triangle from a sheet of parchment paper. Hold the middle of the long side of the triangle between two fingers of 1 hand. Take the tip of the triangle on the short, wide end and roll it toward the other tip of that same end while simultaneously pulling it in an upward motion. The tip of a cone will form where your thumb and finger hold it on the long side.
• Release your grip from the long side, so that you are now holding the 2 corners where they meet. The paper will already resemble a partially formed cone.
• Roll the remaining tail until it is completely rolled into a cone. There will be 1 point sticking up from the open end. Fold it inside toward the center, and crease the fold. Now you should have a cornet. To close the cornet once it has been filled, fold it away from the seam; this will keep the seam from opening. Use a pair of scissors or a sharp paring knife to cut an opening at the tip of the cornet to the desired size.

STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES WITH MACERATED STRAWBERRIES AND PEANUT BRITTLE

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin trays with 18 cupcake liners. In a small bowl, mix together the strawberry preserves, chopped fresh strawberries and lemon juice.
• Grind the freeze-dried strawberries into a fine powder using a coffee grinder or food processor. Sift together the strawberry powder, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Beat in half of the strawberry preserve mixture and the vanilla until just combined. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until just combined after each addition. Evenly distribute the batter between the lined muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick can be inserted in the center of a cupcake and comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out the cupcakes and let cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the frosting: Beat the butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer until creamy, then add the confectioners' sugar. Beat on medium-high until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the milk 1 tablespoon at a time to the desired consistency. Season with a pinch of salt, if desired.
• For the peanut brittle: Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Stir together the sugar, honey, water and salt in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar and honey are dissolved, about 30 seconds. Stir in the peanuts and cook, stirring often, until the mixture turns amber in color (or reaches 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer), 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in the butter until it is completely melted. Working very quickly, stir in the baking soda (the mixture will foam a bit). Immediately pour onto the prepared baking sheet; take an offset spatula, spray with cooking spray, and spread the peanut mixture over the baking sheet to create a thin, even brittle. Top with crushed freeze-dried strawberries, gently pressing down into the peanut mixture. Let the brittle cool until completely hardened, 15 to 20 minutes. Break into pieces.
• Using a paring knife, cut a 1/2-inch-deep piece from the top of each cupcake. Fill each hole with 1/2 teaspoon of the reserved strawberry preserves mixture. Then pipe the peanut frosting over that. Top with brittle pieces.

STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

Steps:

• First, the night before you make these, you're going to cut up about 16 medium strawberries (12 to 14 oz) and cover them in sugar (macerate them)
• The next day, when you're ready to make the cupcakes, pull the strawberries out of the fridge and use a potato masher or a food processor to just gently break them down a little bit more. You still want some chunks of real strawberries -- NOT a puree.
• Place the berries in a strainer over the bowl -- you won't need ALL the syrup for the cupcakes ;-)
• Pre-heat oven to 350 and line the cupcake tin (6 large cupcakes or 36 mini cupcakes)
• Sift cake flour several times into a medium bowl - from that sifted cake flour- measure out 2 3/4 C. Place that into a small bowl with 1/4 tsp salt and 2 1/2 tsp baking powder.
• In your mixer beat 2 sticks of room temperature butter and sugar together until they're a pretty and fluffy pale yellow. Slowly add one egg at a time to the mixture beating for about one minute after each addition - don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl! You don't want to miss any of the buttery goodness!
• Add 1 tsp pure vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp strawberry extract* and mix well.
• Whisk your dry ingredients and then alternate adding your dry ingredients to the batter with 1/2 cup 2% milk. Add the flour and milk in alternating batches mixing and scraping down the sides of the bowl well between each addition.
• Add your berries and 1/4 C + 1 Tbsp strawberry juice to your batter
• Mix well
• Fill the cupcake tin about 3/4 full (I used an ice cream scoop)
• Bake about 18 minutes until the top of the cupcake springs back or a strand of spaghetti comes out clean
• Cool for 5 minutes and then remove from tin to continue cooling
• Frost with favorite Buttercream frosting

MACERATED STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• In a bowl combine all ingredients. Let stand in refrigerator for 2 hours.