Rainy days and cupcakes

My new favorite TV show is Cupcake Wars. I love when they have to come up with new cupcake flavors on the fly with weird ingredients. I am not that daring, but I thought it would be fun to come up with my own recipes. We had three really rainy days in a row and to say that my kids were naughty and driving me NUTS is a severe understatement. So I figured this would be a good time to turn my kitchen into a test kitchen and bake with the kids. Of course they fought over who got to be closest to the mixer and who got to put the flour in, etc. But overall it was fun and it kept them busy. Here are my new recipes!

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY

2 ¼ cups flour
1 ⅓ cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup baking cocoa
½ cup (one stick) butter
½ cup buttermilk (evaporated milk is good too)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups strawberries pureed (you can partially blend it if you want small chunks of strawberries in the cupcake, otherwise blend until smooth)

Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add everything else. Mix for about 2 minutes. Bake at 350 for 16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Don't over bake! dry cupcakes are the worst. I bought a couple packs of strawberries some of which I stuck in the blender for the batter (and frosting) and some I dipped in melted chocolate chips for a garnish on the top of the cupcake.

Frosting

¼ cup of butter, softened
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon milk
4-5 teaspoons *strawberry juice

*I used a non terry cloth to strain a small amount of the strawberry puree. I wanted the fresh strawberry taste but without the seeds. Feel free to use strawberry flavoring if you want. I have that as well, but it isn't as good with the artificial flavoring. Fresh is always best.

If you don't want to make dipped strawberries you can always do this.

Peaches and Cream

Cupcakes

1 ⅓ cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
½ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup peaches pureed

Frosting
¼ cup butter (softened)
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp milk
3-4 tsp pureed peach
The frosting won't have a strong peach
flavor, but if you add too much more it will
start to separate. It is a good thought, plus it
is meant to be the "cream" of the peaches and cream

Glaze
½ cup peach puree
¼ cup powdered sugar
a little milk

Mix dry ingredients and then add everything else. Mix for 2 minutes. Bake at 350 for 16 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. While they are hot poke holes all over the top with a toothpick. Then drizzle the peach glaze over so it can soak into the cupcake. Wait until they have cooled all the way before you frost them.

The reason I did the glaze is because the peach flavor in the cupcake is very subtle. I learned later that the peach flavor naturally bakes off for some reason. But the glaze gives it flavor and makes it very moist! If you want you can also finely chop some peaches and add them to the batter. You should lessen the amount of puree if you do that though.

If you make these, let me know what you think! They worked for me but I want to know if they work every time and for other people.