Strawberry Cupcakes

These cupcakes were the first project with my new mixer, and I made them to bring to the hubby's birthday dinner at my brother's house. They turned out pretty well, however they seemed to have more of a muffin consistency (more dense) than that of a cupcake. I'm new to this baking thing so I'm not sure what I did wrong...maybe baked them a bit too long or the temp wasn't right. See, I have a schizophrenic oven and setting it at 350F doesn't necessarily mean that's the actual oven temperature. I find it runs a bit hot so I try to set the temp at about 25-40 degrees lower than the recipe calls for. It's not an exact science, and it's annoying. I can't wait until we can replace the darn thing.

The cupcakes were very yummy and the cream cheese frosting was a nice touch. Everyone loved them, in fact I'm sure we all had more than one!

The original recipe was posted at Good Things Catered.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar (or a little less)
2 eggs
1/3 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. chopped strawberries

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 cupcake pans.
-Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl.
-In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
-Add eggs one at a time until combined.
-Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla until combined.
-Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.
-Fold in berries.
-Fill cupcake pans 3/4 way.
-Bake for 20 minutes.

Frosting
1/4 c. strawberries
1 Tbsp. strawberry liqueur (I used Baja Rosa - strawberry tequila)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
8 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/2 Tbsp vanilla

-Put berries, liquor, and juice in saucepan.
-Bring to a boil over medium heat and then reduce to a simmer for 5 mins.
-Let cool then blend until smooth.
-In bowl of mixer mix cream cheese and butter until creamy.
-Add sugar, then vanilla.
-Add berry puree until smooth.
-Frost cupcakes when they are completely cooled.