½teaspoonvanilla extractcan be clear for a whiter cake
Dry Ingredients
¾cupall-purpose floursifted
½teaspoonbaking powder
¼teaspoonbaking soda
½ teaspoonsalt
Dairy
2tablespoonfull-fat yogurtplain
Strawberry Buttercream
½cupunsalted butterroom temperature
½teaspoonvanilla extract
2cupspowdered sugar sifted 1-2 times
1cupfreeze dried strawberriesdivided
1 ½tablespoonmilkcould need more, up to 3 tbsp, add ½ tablespoon at a time
Optional Toppings
Sprinkles
Edible flowers
Instructions
Cupcakes
Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare 1 muffin/cupcake pan with oil or cupcake liners. If using a cupcake pan with 12 wells, prepare the middle 6 wells and one side, middle well.
In a stand mixer beat your butter and sugar for about 2 minutes on a medium speed with a paddle attachment, until fluffy. crape sides of bowl as needed.
Add in your egg whites until thoroughly combined. Scrape down sides of bowls. Then add your vanilla and mix until combined.
In a medium-large mixing bowl mix your dry ingredients for the cake and mix (flour, baking flour and soda, salt).
In 2 batches add in your dry mixture into the wet mixture on a lower speed, alternating with 1 batch of your yogurt. ½ dry ingredients, the yogurt, ½ dry ingredients. Don’t over mix.
Scoop batter evenly into 7 cupcake liners/wells. Lightly slam the cake pans on the counter to try to get rid of any major air bubbles. Fill up the remaining 5 outer wells with 1 tablespoon of water.
Bake for about 17-19 minutes. Check with a toothpick until clean. Pull cupcake pan out of the oven and let the cupcakes cook in the pan for about 10-15 minutes. Then remove cupcakes onto a cooling rack until cooled to room temperature.
Small Batch Strawberry Buttercream
Using your mixer and the paddle attachment again, whip the butter for 8 minutes on medium speed. Scrape sides of the bowl every 1-2 minutes or as needed. The butter will become very creamy! Add in the vanilla until combined.
While butter is mixing, pulverize freeze dried strawberries in a blender or food processor until large chunks are gone. Mine took about 60 seconds.
Sift the powdered sugar into a separate bowl. Then sift 3-4 tablespoon of strawberry dust into that same bowl. Mix gently, it won’t fully incorporate since they are different textures.
Add the powdered sugar strawberry mixture into the butter in 2 batches. Go slowly until incorporated, scraping sides of bowl as needed, then mix on medium for 1 additional minute. The frosting should become very light and fluffy.
Add in milk ½ tablespoon at a time and incorporate. You might find you need a little less milk or a tad bit more milk to get the right consistency for your preference of piping.
Assemble
Place frosting into a piping bag and use your favorite tip.
Take a cooled cupcake and pipe frosting on top of each cupcake.
Decorate as desired. You can add full strawberries, sliced strawberries, sprinkles, edible glitter, or powdered sugar.
Notes
– How to get eggs room temperature: I would suggest leaving them on the counter for 1-2 hours to get room temp. However, if you forget or run out of time, another option is to place the eggs into a bowl of warm water (not hot) for about 10-15 minutes.
– How to get butter room temperature: I usually leave mine on a plate on the counter for a couple hours. Or maybe on the oven if it’s being used for something else. If you are in a hurry you can zap in the microwave in very short increments. Just don’t melt it.