![Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries](https://media.paperblog.fr/i/201/2018404/strawberry-swing-cupcakes-for-ice-summer-berr-L-O9nw0C.jpeg)
This is my first entry for the June Iron Cupcake:Earth challenge - Summer Berries. I was thrilled when this challenge was announced because I had been eyeing a recipe from the new Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook which I had seen on her site and then was able to drool over in person when my copy finally arrived from Amazon.co.uk! Hers is a Strawberry Cupcake with a Strawberry Meringue Buttercream. And lucky for me, it's strawberry season here in Paris.
![Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries](https://media.paperblog.fr/i/201/2018404/strawberry-swing-cupcakes-for-ice-summer-berr-L-RfPYJZ.jpeg)
The most common varieties on the market here are Gariguette, which represent 20% of the French strawberry production, and Mara des Bois. I used the latter for this recipe - it's a small, sweet, somewhat firm berry reminiscent to the wild strawberries we used to pick in the fields when I was a little girl at camp in Maine.
![Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries](https://media.paperblog.fr/i/201/2018404/strawberry-swing-cupcakes-for-ice-summer-berr-L-P9H7yE.jpeg)
After taking a more in-depth look at the Martha recipe, I decided hers might be a little too full-on strawberry for a gal like me who is preferential to chocolate and caramel, and also a little bland for IC:E where the flavor combinations are key to the challenge. So I decided to scrap that idea - sorry Martha - save for the strawberries.
So, what did I come up with? A strawberry cupcake loaded with white chocolate chunks and topped with a strawberry and pistachio twist buttercream. It's name,"Strawberry Swing" is taken from Coldplay's Viva La Vida which I was listening to while I baked them.
![Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries](https://media.paperblog.fr/i/201/2018404/strawberry-swing-cupcakes-for-ice-summer-berr-L-ob6yrL.jpeg)
I have to admit that despite the flavor additions, these were still a bit too strawberry potent for me. I think next time I may chop the chocolate finer so that you get more chocolate in every bite, and up the ratio of pistachio to strawberry buttercream.
![Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries](https://media.paperblog.fr/i/201/2018404/strawberry-swing-cupcakes-for-ice-summer-berr-L-PvVDdk.jpeg)
In any case they make a nice summery dessert and would be perfect for sharing at a picnic or 4th of July party. The recipe follows. Enjoy!!!
Strawberry Swing Cupcakes
For 16 cupcakes:
4 ozs. unsalted butter/beurre doux, softened
1 cup sugar/sucre en poudre
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda/bicarbonate alimentaire
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup buttermilk /lait fermente
1/2 cup hot water
100 g. white chocolate, chopped
3 cups fresh strawberries, chopped in small pieces (you may want to reserve about 12 whole strawberries for decoration)
Pre-heat oven to 350F/180C. Grease or place cupcake liners into cupcake tins.
To make cupcakes, cream together sugar and butter until smooth. Add egg, vanilla, baking soda, salt and mix until well-combined. Alternate adding flour and buttermilk in 3 batches ending with a flour addition, mix well until smooth. Add hot water last and mix to combine. Fold in white chocolate chunks and 2 cups strawberries.
Fill lined cupcake tins 2/3rds full and bake for 18-22 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove cupcakes from tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Pistachio & Strawberry Buttercream:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 tbsps. milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup strawberries (reserved from above)
1/2 cup pistachios, shelled and crushed
Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.
In a bowl or mixer, beat together butter and sugar on low speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and milk and mix well. Divide buttercream into 2 bowls, fold strawberry puree in one; fold pistachios into the other. Mix well. Fill a pastry bag with pistachio buttercream on one side and strawberry on other so when you pipe, you get a half and half mixture of each coming out. Frost cupcakes. EAT!
I am competing for an ETSY PRIZE-PACK this month, which you will find right below the photo of my new tote! Why is there a pic of that groovy tote bag in the midst of my cupcake blog you may ask? Well, it's just my way of giving a shout out to my friend Melissa at Etsy shop: Haut Totes. I won a contest she was running on Twitter last week (I honestly never win anything!) and won an awesome, so very cool tote from her! Yay! Do you likey????
![Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries Strawberry Swing Cupcakes for IC:E Summer Berries](https://media.paperblog.fr/i/201/2018404/strawberry-swing-cupcakes-for-ice-summer-berr-L-Sud6vR.jpeg)
Here are the Iron Cupcake June prizes:
* A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH
* A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS
* a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
* PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, , JESSIE STEELE APRONS; TASTE OF HOME books, a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers.