strawberry milk cupcakes

Thank you so much for all the get well wishes, my lovelies! I’m 100% better now and I’m back to eating and talking non-stop, much to the delight/horror of those around me. I got better just in time to enjoy these new cupcakes. Last night I licked the batter, devoured heaping spoonfuls of the frosting and chucked a couple of the finished products in my mouth before the sugar crash hit me and I went down for the count in record time. This morning I woke up with pink frosting smeared across my cheek even though I washed my face before bed. How does that happen?

I never really considered myself a cupcake person, but lately I’ve been a cupcake-baking machine. You know who isn’t complaining? My husband. Yesterday evening we were jogging around Red Hook and he said, “So…cupcakes for dinner?” Yeah. Pretty much.

I wanted to make these cupcakes for Mother’s Day.

I had this brilliant idea to bake the cupcakes and then ship them in little mason jars to my mom and mom-in-law just in time for the holiday, but then I realized that I am an idiot because there is no way these babies would make it there without melting. My mom lives in Kentucky where it is currently 1 billion degrees outside with 700% humidity and I’m too lazy/cheap to figure out any sort of cold container shipping option. So I promised them that I would make them something when I see them both this summer and I made the cupcakes anyway because, well, how could I not? They’re strawberry!

Strawberry Milk Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups strawberries, chopped (plus more for garnish if you want)
• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used soy)
• 2 1/2 cups vegan granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cups grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 ounces Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
• 6 cups of vegan confectioners’ sugar
• 1 cup of Earth Balance

Have you ever made strawberry milk before? It’s so super easy and I found a great recipe on Babble. All you do is combine 1 cup of chopped strawberries, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1 cup of water in a pot and boil it all for 10 minutes.

Scoop out the berries and use them for another recipe (pancakes, anyone?)

Pour the remaining liquid in a glass filled with 1 1/2 cups of milk. Now stir.

Resist the urge to drink all of it because you’re going to need it for the cake.

Court Kitty had no problem staying away from this milk.

He was pretty much horrified by the whole thing.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. To make cake, combine the all-purpose flour, 2 cups of granulated sugar, baking soda and sea salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the strawberry milk, grape seed oil, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix on low-medium speed for 1 minute, or until combined. Spoon the batter into a cupcake tin and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly.

Let the cupcakes cool before whipping up the frosting.

To make the frosting, puree 1 cup of chopped strawberries in a food processor.

If there are still small chunks in there don’t worry, that makes it even better. Combine the puree, confectioners’ sugar, Earth Balance, Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a bowl and mix on low-medium speed until fully combined.

Frost your cupcakes and top with more strawberries if it tickles your fancy.

Share them for Mother’s Day, celebrate the arrival of spring with these pink darlings or just pop several in your mouth and settle in with Harrison to watch Round 2 of the playoffs. He’s so excited.