Fresh AF Strawberry Buttercream Frosting - Need I say more?

Probably one of my favourite frosting flavours EVERRRRR (cue Outcast's for-eva-eva?) is strawberry buttercream. First of all, I love buttercream frostings. I'm not a huge fan of pure icing sugar frostings that a lot of pre-made grocery store baked goods use... I much prefer the rich and buttery taste of buttercream. Second of all, strawberry frosting is like the perfect match for a cupcake - the pink colour, the fruity flavour and the summer-in-your-mouth deliciousness.

That's why I was so excited to try Fiona's (Just So Tasty's) recipe for a strawberry buttercream (Click here for the complete recipe: https://www.justsotasty.com/strawberry-buttercream-frosting/) !

And while I'm here, I have something to confess: I totally cheated and used store bought cupcake mix for the cupcake batter.... but hey, these were still damn delicious :) Boxed cupcake mix is just so easy to make and cuts down on the measuring, etc. But hey! I don't have to justify myself. Just go ahead and keep scrolling for pics of these beauty cupcakes and the recipe below.

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Nothing says spring slash almost summer quite like a batch of ripened strawberries :D Try out this buttercream for all of your spring baking cravings and let me know what you think!

I had to pack in the (cored) berries a few handfuls at a time since I only have a mini-sized food processor. Still got the job done!

The pan below is tilted a little bit on an angle, so it kinda shows how thick the strawberry puree reduced to. You should also be able to run a spatula or spoon through the mixture and end up with a clean line.

My mixture reduced down to about 3/4 of a cup.

Now the strawberry puree can become one with the butter!! Look at that whipped buttercream gorgeousness.

Et voila! The frosting is piped onto the cupcakes and topped with a raspberry and some white chocolate shavings! (just grate a piece of white chocolate on your box grater)

I suppose you can also top with strawberries lol I just used up all of mine for the strawberry puree. Whoops!

Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting - Fiona @ Just So Tasty's recipe

Serves 18 cupcakes

2 C of strawberries, fresh (I used about 25 small/medium sized strawberries)

1 C of salted butter, softened to room temperature

4 1/2 C of powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

For directions, see Fiona's recipe here: https://www.justsotasty.com/strawberry-buttercream-frosting/

A few suggestions from my experience:

- How to core the strawberries: The fastest and cleanest way that I found to core my strawberries was to use a pairing knife. Insert the pairing knife on an angle, close to the top of the green stem, and then just glide it around the top of the strawberry, cutting a little circle out. The stem & white part should come clean out

- Reducing the strawberry mixture: I left mine on medium-low heat for about 35 minutes, stirring every few minutes or so.

- Make sure to cool the reduced strawberry puree before mixing into the buttercream. I left mine in the fridge for about an hour, just to make sure!

Happy baking :)