Since I knew I was having friends over for dinner last weekend, I thought that would be a perfect excuse for me to bake a dessert.  I try not to do that too frequently when I don’t have a reason to because then the sweet just sits around my house until I manage to consume it all or pawn it off on my parents when it is past its prime.  Sorry parents.  Since I have some basil growing in my herb pot and strawberries are just coming in season, I figured there was no better time to give this recipe a go.

Strawberry Basil Cupcakes

I followed this recipe from Three Square exactly except that I halved it and it made 18 cupcakes.  If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t have mixed for as long as the recipe called for because I feel like that made it a little more dense and less fluffy than I would have liked (however the cake texture was still pretty darn good).  I also would have added 1/4 cup more diced strawberries and possibly a teaspoon of vanilla.  If I were you guys and I was making these, I would do all those things.

Strawberry Basil Cream Cheese Buttercream

I have posted my cream cheese frosting recipe several times before but I always go back to it because I think it is just that good.  This time I used the recipe and added strawberries and basil to it.  I was worried the fresh ingredients would taste weird with the cream cheese but they really turned out perfectly.

– 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

– 1  8 ounce package cream cheese, softened to room temperature

– 1 lb + 1/4 cup powdered sugar, more or less depending on your preference, I added the 1/4 cup to make up for the strwaberries adding some wetness to the frosting

– 1 ¼ tsp almond

– 1 ¼ tsp vanilla

– ¼ tsp butter extract

– 1 TBSP milk

– 2 TBSP diced strawberries

– 3 basil leaves, diced

In an electric mixer, cream butter and cream cheese.  Add almond, vanilla, butter extract, and milk.  Add powdered sugar in parts.  Add diced strawberries and basil.  You could even add more strawberries if you’d like but make sure your frosting doesn’t get too runny that it is sliding off the cake.  That would be tragic.  Mix together until creamy and delicious.