Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

The Beats! 
  
A few weeks ago I went to Sin City with one of my favorite people to celebrate her upcoming wedding.  The last time I'd been I was 18 and let me tell you, the experience is a little different when you're above the legal drinking age.  After several days we returned to Seattle to recover, but the song Barbara Streisand by Ducksauce was lodged in my mind (I dare you to learn the words ...).  We'd heard it several times while we were there, but I can't tell you where, since that's breaking the LasVegas code, right?  If you guessed the Public Library you're wrong.  But anyway, I think it's time to bring a little Ducksauce to the table, along with some of my most favorite awful hip hop songs ... So enjoy!

The Treats!  
  
Well, speaking of the special bride-to-be ... it was her 26th birthday last week so I made a batch of these for the special occasion.  They're from my favorite cookbook, but this recipe was a new one, not one of their six cupcake recipes that I'm already a fan of ... so now we can make it seven.  I'm not huge on cheesecake (otherwise I probably would be huge?) but these cupcakes remind me more of a light "cakey" fruit cobbler with a cream cheese frosting on top.  They're easy, despite my drawn out instructions below, and are fun looking as well - especially when you add a ridiculously bad-ass star candle on top.  So ... go ahead, get busy.  

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes   (makes 12)              

From Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

What you'll need ...

1 cup all-porpoise flour (not really, just regular type) 
3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons unsalted buttah, room temperature

1/2 cup whole milk (or whatever is in the fridge)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

12 strawberries, chopped into small pieces

6 1/2 oz graham crackers (or several full crackers)

Cupcake tin and liners!

And for the icing ...

2 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar

3 Tablespoons unsalted buttah, room temperature

4 oz. cold cream cheese

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.  Put the flour, sugar, baking pow (pow!), salt, and butter in a freestanding electric mixer (or use your handheld mixer) and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.


Pour in the milk and vanilla and beat on medium speed until all the ingredients are well mixed - make sure to scrape any unmixed ingredients from the bottom and sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the egg and beat well for a few minutes to insure the ingredients are well mixed.

Divide the chopped strawberries between the paper cases.  Spoon the batter on top until 2/3 full (I just go until the batter is gone because wasted batter is taboo in my kitchen) and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.


The cakes should be light golden and bounce back when touched, or a skewer inserted into the center should come out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan before turning out to cool completely.



Roughly break up the graham crackers (I just put them in a ziplock sandwich bag and started beating it with my fist, which the neighbors loooove).  "Process" until finely ground.  When the cupcakes are cold ... it's time for the frosting.




Ok, so the last time I made frosting I decided I didn't want to go to the hassle of cleaning up my Kitchenaid mixer when I was done, so in a moment of ingenuity, I pulled out my handheld mixer and a shallow bowl, filled it with powdered sugar and a little butter and cream cheese, and then turned on the mixer.  Bad idea.  I covered the entire kitchen, myself, the walls, my Kitchenaid nearby, the floor and filled the air with a million particles of powdered sugar.  But I'm stubborn.  So did I stop?  No, I showed that powdered sugar who is boss and then spent the next fifteen minutes cleaning up.  Moral of the story ... use a stand up mixer or dig out the deepest bowl you own.


Beat the confectioners' sugar and butter together in a freestanding mixer (see that's the part I ignored) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until completely incorporated.  Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed.  Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, several minutes. 

After frosting, finish with a sprinkling of your ground graham crackers.  Eat 'em!