Strawberry Cupcakes with Tri-Colour Vanilla Frosting

My eldest's birthday just passed and the theme was unicorns!  This has been a recent obsession in our house so I started looking for unicorn themed ideas for the party.

The unicorn toppers I purchased.

This cookbook is amazing and
never fails me!

I came across these cupcake toppers on Amazon and decided I would bake some cupcakes for the party.  I pulled out my trusty Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book and settled on Strawberry Cupcakes.  Every recipe I have ever tried from this cookbook has turned out amazing and I always get great compliments on them.  The tips and notes she provides in the recipes are always spot on; nothing has every failed.

I loved using this and can't wait
to make more cupcakes just to use this!

I also used her Vanilla Frosting which I divided into 3 bowls and coloured with food colouring.  I used this neat tool from Wilton that lets you pipe 3 differed coloured icing at the same time.  While I was a little wary of it because I've never really piped anything before and this tool had mixed reviews, I gave it a shot and it was really quite awesome.  It does get a little messy, but overall went pretty smoothly.  And they looked positively stunning.  They were a huge hit at the party!  The frosting recipe was not enough to frost all the cupcakes; I needed about 1-1/2 to 1-2/3.  Doubling the recipe will give you plenty to work with.

Strawberry Cupcakes
Makes 34 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising) **
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 large whole eggs plus 1 egg white
1 cup milk
2 cups freshly chopped fresh strawberries (about 20)

Directions:
**If you don't have cake flour, measure out 1/2 cup all-purpose flour.  Remove 1 tbsp and replace it with 1 tbsp. cornstarch.  Give it a quick mix

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Sift together both flours, baking powder and salt.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add whole eggs and the white, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.  Reduce speed to l ow.  Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk, and beating until well combined.  Fold in chopped strawberries by hand.

3. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 15 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto rack and let cool completely.  Cupcakes can be stored up to 1 day at room temperature in airtight containers.

Fluffy Vanila Frosting
Makes about 4 cups

Here you can see how awesome
it looks with the three colours
piped together!

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 minutes.

2. Reduce speed to medium.  Add the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to aerate frosting, then return to medium.  This process should take about 5 minutes.  Frosting will be very pale and fluffy.

3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth.  If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in an airtight container.  Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

4. If tinting with food colouring, add a drop at a time and stir with a flexible spatula until well combined before adding more.