Naturally Green St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes

Having a sensitivity to food coloring confuses people sometimes, especially since mine is restricted to blue. What they don't seem to understand is that my body doesn't actually care if it looks blue, just if it contains the pigment Blue 1. You know what else contains Blue 1 besides blue food coloring? Green food coloring. Purple food coloring. A variety of foods that don't fall anywhere on the blue side of the color wheel, also known as my list of reasons I hate everything (because I usually discover these foods contain blue food coloring the hard way).

Reasons I Hate Everything List

• Store bought marshmallows (even the gingerbread ones)
• Cranberry ginger ale (ironically bought to make my stomach feel better)
• Chocolate animal crackers
• Peach Mango Crystal Lite
• Reese's Pieces
• Almost anything berry flavored

There's probably more, but since I've become obsessive about checking the ingredients on foods before I buy them, there's a lot less accidental blue food coloring ingestion, so I'm less angry about it. That's not to say I never slip up (sometimes on purpose, damn you sour gummy worms), but since my system has usually been cleaned out of all blue by that time, it's usually less "I hate everything" and more "well, that was not smart."

But when this time of year rolls around, and everyone decides to dye everything green, the subject starts to come up again. Well I tell someone I can't eat something that has green food coloring, they go, "Why, it's not blue," and I have to go back to the elementary school color wheel to explain how you make something green.

Enter the naturally green cupcakes. I originally made them last year for a friend who wanted "baby friendly" St. Patrick's Day cupcakes for her son's day care. I didn't know what baby friendly cupcakes meant, so I figured I'd just make something low sugar with no artificial ingredients and some hidden healthy stuff. (I topped those original cupcakes with an avocado cream cheese frosting, which made me sad because avocado+cream cheese tasted really good and all I wanted to do was add some garlic and onion to it and spread it on toast. Instead I, very reluctantly, had to add sugar)

I had low expectations for those cupcakes, as they were meant for tiny people who hadn't yet grown all of their teeth, but they were surprisingly tasty. I decided to try and make them again for Christmas, tweaking the recipe up a bit for adults, and topping them with some red velvet frosting. Those were really good, but I decided to make the full recipe in the blender, and the flour got overworked, so they came out a bit on the gummy side (which was also sad, because making them in the blender was so easy!)

So here we've come full circle and I decided to once again, this time with the tweaked recipe and without trying to make everything in the blender. Whattaya think?

Green enough for you? Except for the candy decorations, there is not a drop of food coloring in these bad boys. Have you guessed what makes that possible yet?

The answer is spinach. These cupcakes are loaded up with some green leafy goodness adding color and nutrition without tasting like it. While the cupcakes do have a different flavor than a straight up vanilla cupcake would, nobody can tell you made them with spinach unless you tell them. Plus, they're a lot healthier than a regular cupcake. You've got spinach, you've also got unsweetened applesauce, and there's only one stick of butter for the whole batch. It's practically health food. I've totally eaten these for breakfast and not felt one whit of guilt.

Of course, I've also eaten pie for breakfast and not felt guilty about it, so I may not be the best judge of food related guilt.

These cupcakes are a little more dense and a little more coarse than the ideal cake texture would be. You could skip the frosting and call them muffins, but then you don't get the moral superiority of eating spinach for dessert, and I'm not down with that.

As for the toppings, those are not healthy, but that's the part that makes them cupcakes.

The frosting is a cream cheese frosting, and it wasn't half bad, considering I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, but it refused to stiffen. I have never made a cream cheese frosting that stiffened properly. I don't know if it's because I purposefully use less powdered sugar than most recipes (most cream cheese frosting recipes are way too sweet.Tooth-achingly so. I don't think I will ever understand), but it never happens for me.

Decorations wise, I went super simple. I separated out the yellow M&Ms from a bag of spring colored ones (spring yellow is paler, but there's more per bag), and placed them on top to look like gold coins. Then I sprinkled some rainbow-colored Nerds around the edges to represent a rainbow. You could totally use rainbow sprinkles instead; that was actually my plan, but I saw the rainbow Nerds in the grocery store and I got excited. XD

I realized afterwards that using neon-colored candies to decorate my naturally colored cupcakes was a bit contradictory, but they're pretty so I don't care. (I actually didn't end up eating any of the decorated ones, so it all worked out in the end)

Spinach Cupcakes
Yield: 18

Ingredients
5 cups packed fresh spinach
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar*
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Cream cheese frosting

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Add the spinach, maple syrup, applesauce, and vinegar to a blender and blend until completely smooth.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Add the vanilla.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add about half the flour mixture to the butter, beating on low until just combined. Add half the spinach mixture and continue to mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the remaining flour and spinach mix, and beat on low speed until well combined.

Line a muffin tin with paper liners and fill three quarters of the way with batter. Bake 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

*I have skipped the sugar before with no ill results, besides being not quite sweet enough, so if you prefer to not use refined sugar, you can leave it out.

Recipe by Kim

Puff Pastry Sand-Witches

When my friend invited me to a Halloween party in her new apartment, I told her I'd bring some real food. Like, actual non-dessert type food. I figured she'd need that more than the cupcakes that I will likely still bring with me, since Halloween is the holiday of pure sugar. The only problem is, I wanted to do something themed, and there's not nearly as many savory Halloween recipes as there are sweet. So for once in my life, I decided to go simple. I took some Halloween cookie cutters and made some easy puff pastry sandwiches.

Except, since it's for Halloween, I decided to call them "Sand-Witches," and I can't type the word sand-witch without thinking of this scene in Dreamfall Chapters:

It's one of my favorite scenes too. I'm now mad I didn't think to cosplay as the Sand-witcher for NYCC.

I also had to laugh because when I realized that I had a Halloween cat cookie cutter, all I could think of was this:

Kitten carpaccio.

...

I thought it was funny.

I realize that none of you will get this reference because none of you are playing Dreamfall Chapters, but it was impossible for me not to make the reference. Like, it would have caused me physical pain to not tell you about the Sand-witcher. Moral of the story: everyone should be playing Dreamfall Chapters. So go do that. (It's written by a guy who is basically the Norwegian Joss Whedon. If that's not reason enough to play, I don't know what is)

Kian's adventures in food aside, my sand-witches are super simple, and don't even include any cured Elgwan, mostly because that's impossible to find here in Stark. (Stark is our world, the world of technology. Arcadia is the world of magic. Which you would know if you played the game)

All you need are five ingredients, one of which is totally optional: puff pastry, cold cuts (I used ham), sliced cheese (I used American), honey mustard (you can use any sandwich spread you like, or skip and serve with condiments on the side), and an egg wash to make everything all golden brown and pretty.

Use some Halloween cookie cutters to cut the puff pastry into season appropriate shapes. Add some cheese. Spread the honey mustard on top of the cheese (to prevent soggy pastry). Add some ham. Place another piece of puff pastry on top, pinch the edges closed. Brush with egg wash and bake.

I also scored the pastry or cut some holes for it to vent. Where I could, like this haunted house cutter, I tried to make the holes decorative.

Pumpkins obviously became jack-o-lanterns.

These are quick and easy appetizers you can make last minute for a Halloween party, but it's also a great make-ahead recipe. They can be served warm or at room temperature, can be adapted for any preference, and are something even the kiddos can help make. I think it's a win-win.

Puff Pastry Sand-Witches

Yield: Approx. 6-8 sandwiches, depending on the size of your cutters

Ingredients

1 pkg. puff pastry

6-8 slices of cheese (I used American)

Honey mustard (optional)

6-8 slices of ham (or your favorite cold cuts)

1 egg, beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Use Halloween cookie cutters to cut the puff pastry, cheese, and ham into shapes-- you need two pieces of pastry, one slice of cheese, and one slice of ham per sandwich.

Assemble the sandwiches: start with the first piece of pastry, place a slice of cheese on top. Spread a thin layer of honey mustard on top of the cheese, if using (this will help prevent sogginess if making ahead). Add a slice of ham, and top with the second piece of pastry. Pinch the edges of the pastry together to seal in the filling. Use a sharp knife to score the top, and brush with the beaten egg. Bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve warm or room temperature.

Tip: Flatten the pastry slightly before assembling the sandwiches, so it will be easier to pinch the edges closed. If making ahead, keep refrigerated in an airtight container, and put the sandwiches back in the oven for a few minutes before serving.

Recipe by Kim

And once last word from the Sand-witcher:

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Do you guys remember when I made that soooper delicious gluten free cookie cake? And I said the one drawback was it was a little bit delicate? Well, I wanted to try the recipe again with a little xanthan gum to see if I could solve that problem. But then it was the holidays and I had a ton of Christmas baking to do. Except, I'm a problem solver.

My mom gives me a list of things to bake every year to give to her coworkers. This year it consisted of Browned Butter Maple Blondies, Zucchini Brownies, and my sort-of famous Cherry Almond Oatmeal Cookies. She puts together a little selection of treats for everyone and I assume it pleases them since she still asks me to do it. But one of her coworkers is gluten free and she only gets the cookies. Don't get me wrong, everyone loves those cookies, but it's gotta be a little sucky when everyone else has all sorts of choices and you've only got the one.

"What about my cookie cake?" I asked. "I want to try making it again and it's gluten free."

My mother had reservations. "But it's a pie. How would I give it out?"

"I could make it into cookie cups." She agreed that sounded like a good idea.

I had all the ingredients to make the cookie cake in my pantry already, I just bought some Reese's to stuff the cookie cups with when I was picking up the ingredients for everything else on my list.

Then I made them with just a couple adjustments, and I had to keep from stuffing all of them in my face they were so good. I managed to keep from eating them all so my mother could give them away as presents, but I made them again to share on ze blog and these are mine-all-mine

These don't taste gluten free at all. In fact, the coconut flour helps make the outside crisp while the inside stays soft and gooey, giving it the ideal cookie cup texture. These aren't delicate the way the cookie cake was, plus they don't have grainy edges like the cookie cake did.

The Reese's on top then gets all melty and biting into it is like an explosion of peanut buttery chocolatey goodness. And just like the cookie cake, these are beyond simple to make. One bowl, one whisk, stuff it with a seasonal Reese's, and you've got a simple and adorable treat perfect for sharing.

Or hoarding. Which is what I plan on doing.

*EDIT: it's been brought to my attention that the seasonal Reese's are not gluten free. However, Reese's cups are GF and actually fit better into the cookie cups. I was just trying to be cute and seasonal. Please always make sure to read the packaging*

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cups

Yield: 3 dozen cookie cups

Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 tbsp. milk

3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1 tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup coconut flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp. xanthan gum

1 cup chocolate chips

36 chocolate covered peanut butter candies (like these Reese's hearts), unwrapped and frozen

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously grease a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add the brown sugar and mix until dissolved. Mix in the peanut butter until smooth. Add the coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum and mix until well incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Add 1 tablespoon of dough to each cavity of the prepared muffin tin, pressing it in lightly with your finger. Bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to brown and set. Immediately press the candies into the middle of each cup.

Place the tin on a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before removing the cookies to cool completely. If you want the candies to keep their shape, chill the tin in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before removing the cookie cups.

Note: Seasonal shaped Reese' s candies are not gluten free. See more on the Hershey' s website here

Recipe by Kim

 *Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links*

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Snowflake Brownies

These brownies make me angry. (That's my secret Cap; I'm always angry. ilu Bruce Banner)

It's not the flavor. They taste really good. It's not the texture-- they're not quite as fudgy in the middle as I would like, but fudgy enough to satisfy me.

What gets me about these brownies is that they're such a tease. Roll back to Christmas Eve. I was making cookie cups to give as presents, but I needed something else. Then I remembered I had this silicone snowflake pan from forever ago. I'd make snowflake cupcakes and add them to the presents!

Except the recipe I used was too light and fluffy and the cakes fell apart when I tried to take them out of the pan. No problem, I was planning on making these brownies to serve for dessert anyway, so I'd just switch up my plans. I baked the rest of the cake batter in a regular pan and whipped up the brownie batter.

I decided to do a test brownie so I wouldn't waste too much batter if they didn't come out. That sucker came out abso-frickin-lutely perfectly.

By that time, I was running late, and I had promised my mother I'd make her green bean salad since she had to work, so I covered the bowl of batter, grabbed the silicone pan and went to my parents' house to finish up there.

Except the next batch I pulled out of the oven fell apart when I tried to take it out of the pan. I ran back home, grabbed the ingredients to make more, and made a second batch. This one I baked for a few minutes longer, and let cool for as long as I could, and they still fell apart. I didn't have time to try again, and ended up feeling a bit miserly as everyone only got three pieces of fudge and two cookie cups for presents.

If the tester hadn't come out so perfectly, this wouldn't upset me as much as it did

You make me so angry, you perfect little snowflake

I figured the key for the brownies to come out of the pan properly was to add those extra few minutes to the baking time, and to chill them before trying to take them out of the pan (the second batch, while I'd let it cool for half an hour, I still felt some residual heat, and the tester was left neglected while I did other stuff, so it was cooling for probably over an hour.)

Once again, I went to make the brownies, armed with the knowledge earned from those past defeats, and... I accidentally mixed up my 1/3 cup measure with my 1/4 cup measure and added too much flour. I forged ahead anyway, figuring that this would make them denser and less fudgy, but that could only help me at this point.

When I finally popped them out of the pan, I was ready to rejoice, as they didn't break coming out, but I looked at them, and I don't know if I used too much cooking spray, or if it was because the batter was too thick, but there were air bubbles in the surface so you could barely see the pan's design. At that point I decided I was completely done with these brownies, so I just dusted them with sugar and covered them with sprinkles and took photos.

If you decide to be a normal person and make them in a pan, these brownies are delicious. Like I said, they're not quite fudgy enough for me, but they're a good compromise for people who like fudgy brownies and people who like cakey brownies. My family was very happy that the brownies didn't come out, since they got what my brother dubbed the sad brownie mountain (I just threw all of the broken pieces onto a plate, and they piled up) and they completely demolished it. I left all the brownies with them, since I couldn't bear to look at them.

These are basically the same as my Chocolate Pudding Brownies, except I used dark chocolate hot cocoa mix instead of instant fudge powder, and I added peppermint extract and Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips. You can't go wrong with chocolate and peppermint, and I love those peppermint baking chips because they still give a little crunch, but don't stick to your teeth like crushed candy canes do. Of course, any peppermint candy would do if you don't have the baking chips. You could even stir in some mini York Peppermint Patties.

In summation, don't use a snowflake pan. And also make these brownies.

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Snowflake Brownies
Yield: 12 brownies

Ingredients

2/3 cup sugar
9 tbsp. quality dark chocolate hot cocoa mix
½ cup flour
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
½ cup melted butter
¼ cup milk or cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. peppermint extract
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup peppermint baking chips
Powdered sugar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil, and lightly spray with nonstick
cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, hot cocoa mix, flour, and salt. Mix in eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract, and stir until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips and peppermint chips. Spread evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until the edges pull away from the pan. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

If making in a silicone snowflake pan: Generously grease each cavity with nonstick cooking spray. Add 1/4 cup of batter to each cavity. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator up to 30 minutes. Remove from pan and let come to room temperature before serving. Makes 9 snowflake brownies.

Note: the silicone pan I use was roughly comparable to a jumbo cupcake tin. If using a smaller pan, use less batter and reduce the baking time.

Recipe adapted from my middle school Home Ec class (original source unknown)

*Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links*

Frankenstein's Monster Cupcakes

Do you guys realize that every year I've had this blog, I've done a classic horror movie monster cupcake for Halloween? Last year, I did zombie cupcakes. The year before that, I did vampire fang cupcakes. The year before that, I didn't have a blog.

This year, I knew I wanted to keep that ball rolling, so I asked a friend what monster cupcakes I should make this year. Her answer was immediate: Frankenstein.

But Frankenstein cupcakes had been done to death, and by better decorators than I. Or so I thought. Every Frankenstein cupcake I came across was abso-freakin-lutely stinkin' adorable. Don't get me wrong, I love the cute, but at Halloween, I want something a little more gruesome.

So I sat down to brainstorm. How did I do Frankenstein cupcakes that were a) a little more gruesome, and b) accessible to my general lack of decorating skills?

I went back to the monster's origins. Dead flesh stitched back together and reanimated with the use of lightning and mad science. If the monster was flesh that had been stitched together, I could take green Airheads and "stitch" them together over a cupcake. And the frosting should be red, and I could add some red dessert sauce (I used the syrupy part of cherry pie filling) to make the gaps in the "flesh" look all raw and bloody.

Yes, these are words I used to talk about cupcakes.

I had originally intended to use shoe string licorice to stitch the Airheads together, but I couldn't find any, and I didn't really want to order it online. I ended up using a tube of black gel icing from the grocery store. Cookie icing, or a small batch of royal icing would probably work better, since gel can sometimes run.

The Airheads actually ended up being a little more difficult to deal with than I thought. While they were beautifully pliable after being microwaved for a couple of seconds, they harden back up very quickly. Luckily, I wanted raggedy edges and unevenness, so it ended up working out for me, but that's something to keep in mind. And the cherry pie filling can cause the Airheads to "melt," so either add them right before serving, or skip the pie filling "blood." (You can even skip the gaps in the "skin;" it didn't end up having quite the effect I envisioned)

I also decided to buy a nuts and bolts chocolate mold so I could make the monster's iconic neck bolts. I just melted some Merckens black chocolate wafers with some Merckens super white (Merckens black is really more of a very dark brown-- Wilton's gives you a truer black but Merckens tastes so much better), and dry brushed on some silver luster dust, which made them actually look super realistic. Then I just added a touch of red gel icing around the edge for that added touch of gore. I wanted it to look like the bolts had been jammed right in.

But the decorations don't stop at the top:

I colored the cupcakes green and filled the with more cherry pie filling for added oozey gore when you bite into them.

These cupcakes were a bit time consuming, but easy enough for the novice decorator, I think. Except for the chocolate mold and luster dust, there's not a single thing I used that isn't easy to find, most of which can even be found at the grocery store. The cupcakes can be baked, filled, and frosted ahead of time, too.

Cupcakes: I used my Birthday Cake Cupcakes, but Almond cupcakes would go really well with the cherry pie filling
Frosting: I used the same recipe from my Zombie Cupcakes, just added a little raspberry extract (because I thought it would go with the cherry and the watermelon Airheads) and a little whipping cream.
Filling/Blood sauce: Canned cherry pie filling
Skin: Watermelon Airheads. I liked the color of the watermelon better, but Green Apple would also work
Stitches: Black gel icing (royal icing might work better)
Bolts: Black and super white Merckens wafers, melted and poured into this nuts and bolts chocolate mold, and brushed with silver luster dust

*Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links*

Grasshopper Pie

So, I've had this pie pinned forever to my "No Bake" board on Pinterest. I actually think it might have been one of the first things I pinned. Except that it wasn't actually this pie. The pie I had pinned used Cool Whip and instant pudding mix, and as you know, I don't have Cool Whip or instant pudding mix. I have whipping cream and unflavored gelatin. But I liked the idea of the pie, so I pinned it anyway, thinking I could come up with a from-scratch version.

And this is totally from scratch. I even baked the chocolate cookies for the cookie crumb crust. That's totally not necessary; I was, per usual, just too lazy to go to the store. I used the wafer cookie recipe from my Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies (I skipped the milk, used brown sugar instead of white, added a little chocolate extract for fun, and rolled them out)(Don't you know by now, I never make a recipe the same way twice?), but obviously if you're not a crazy person like me, a box of chocolate wafer cookies is a whole lot easier.

The pie filling is creamy, minty goodness, and then you've got the chocolate crumb crust, sprinkled with dark chocolate chips, and you really can't go wrong.

Full disclosure though-- for the mint chips, I had a mixed bag of mint and chocolate chips and I sat there picking out all the green mint ones, because this is how crazy people operate. You can buy just mint chips if you're not a crazy person, or if you can't find them, just use white chocolate and add some mint or peppermint extract (I prefer peppermint, because I find mint extract makes things taste like toothpaste).

Have a happy St. Paddy's Day! This year I won't get pinched because I remembered to post something green. :D

Grasshopper Pie
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients
2 cups finely ground chocolate cookie crumbs
4 tbsp. melted unsalted butter
1 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup milk
1 cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar, divided
1 tbsp. cornstarch
Green food coloring
1 cup mint baking chips
1½ cups chilled whipping cream
½ tsp. chocolate extract*
Dark chocolate chips, for decorating

Directions
In a bowl, mix together the cookie crumbs and melted butter until well coated. Press evenly into a 9-inch pie plate, allowing it to come up the sides. Refrigerate until needed.

Add the cold water to a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Allow to bloom.

In a small saucepan, mix the milk, 1 cup of sugar, cornstarch, and a few drops of green food coloring together. Heat on low, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming, and cook until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the mint chips until melted.

Add the hot milk mixture to the softened gelatin, and mix together. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, or until you can mold it with a spoon.

Add the remaining tbsp. of sugar and the chocolate extract to the whipping cream, and whip on high until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the mint mixture. Mound the filling into the prepared pie crust, and chill another 2 hours, or until firm. Sprinkle the top with dark chocolate chips and serve chilled.

*If you can't find chocolate extract, use vanilla

Recipe by Kim

Strawberry Cupcakes

So, Valentine's Day is a thing that's happening. Soonish, right?

I kid. I know when Valentine's Day is. Its the day before my birthday, and it's usually the reason I have to wait a week to celebrate because everybody else has gooey romantic plans.

I don't really get Valentine's Day, you know? Don't get me wrong, I love all the things that comes with it. Pink, sparkly things, stuffed monkeys that make kissy noises (pictured above), chocolate and cherries, cheesy cards with bad puns and even worse double entendres. But seriously, guys. Is it really romantic if you're being romantic on the one day of the year the calendar tells you to be romantic?

And ladies, let's be reasonable. Guys only do romantic on February 14th because we expect them to do romantic because the calendar says we should expect the romance. First of all, if the woman wants the romance, why is all the responsibility on the dude? Secondly, isn't it more romantic if it takes you by surprise? If he shows up with flowers, chocolate, and dinner reservations on February 14th, he can't really do more than exceed expectations. But if he does it on a random date, then its unexpected and special. Call me crazy, call me bitter, but I find the latter much more romantic of the two scenarios.

Look, I'm not saying Valentine's Day should be abolished or anything. I'm not even saying it shouldn't be celebrated, but I like it best when its corny, pink, and sparkly.

These cupcakes are not some huge romantic gesture. They are cute and pink, decorated with sugar pearls and conversation hearts. They are perfect for a quiet Valentine's Day evening at home, exchanging cheesy greeting cards, giggling over the bad innuendos, and getting pink glitter everywhere.

The cupcakes get their flavor from strawberry sauce and a dollop of strawberry jam baked into the middle, which means you don't have to worry about trying to find strawberries in the dead of winter. The cupcakes themselves are based off of my Cherry Chocolate Chip Cupcakes, the whipped egg whites and buttermilk giving them a light airiness. My taste tester practically licked the liner clean, and they hadn't even been frosted yet.

And if you're wondering why the cupcake is brown and not pink, it's because I had forgotten to add the food coloring. Strawberries don't actually turn things red in baking, not without a little help, and the strawberry sauce I was using was more of a reddish brown to begin with. But that is most definitely a strawberry cake, no matter what the color.

Strawberry Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar, divided
⅔ cup strawberry sauce
⅔ cup buttermilk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
4 egg whites
½ cup seedless strawberry jam

For the frosting:
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tbsp. vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. strawberry sauce
½ tsp. vanilla extract
Small pinch of salt
Red food coloring (optional)

Directions
For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 muffin tins with 24 paper liners. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and ½ cup sugar together at medium speed until fluffy. Add the vanilla.

Mix together the buttermilk and strawberry sauce and add about ¼ cup to the butter mixture. Beat until fully incorporated. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add about half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add the rest of the milk mixture, followed by the rest of the flour mixture. Beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl with clean beaters, whip the egg whites on high until they start to turn glossy. Gradually add in the remaining ½ cup of sugar, and continue to whip on high until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold the egg whites into the prepared batter.

Add 1 tablespoon of batter to each muffin cup. Top with 1 teaspoon of strawberry jam and another tablespoon of batter. Bake 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when gently pressed. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting: using an electric mixer, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed. Gradually add in the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients, continuing to beat on medium until well incorporated. Increase the speed to high and whip until light and fluffy.

Recipe by Kim