Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes

I enjoyed making these cute strawberry cupcakes with Strawberry Butter cream icing.The cake turned out so soft,fluffy and irresistible bursting with strawberry flavour,a nice change to the vanilla and chocolate flavours which I usually make.I am sure it will be a great hit especially with kids and adults as well.

Ingredients:

Strawberry Cupcake:

All purpose flour	¾ cup
Sweetened condensed milk	½ tin
Butter melted	50 gms(1/4 cup)
Milk(at room temperature)	100 ml approximately
Powdered sugar	3 tblsp
Baking powder	1 tsp
Baking soda	½ tsp
Strawberry essence	1 tsp
Pink food colour	Few drops
Vanilla essence	½ tsp

Strawberry Buttercream icing:

Butter	50 gms(1/4 cup)
Icing sugar	1 ¼ cup
Strawberry essence	½ tsp
Pink food colour	Few drops
Puree made from 2 strawberry
Fresh strawberries cut into halves (for decoration)	as needed

Method:

For the cake:

• Preheat oven to 160 °C.
• Sift flour,baking powder,baking soda and keep aside.
• Take a mixing bowl,add condensed milk,melted butter,powdered sugar and beat well with a whisk for 2 mins.Add the strawberry and vanilla essence,food colour and mix well.
• Now add  the milk and mix.Add the sifted flour and mix well till there are no lumps and you get a smooth batter.
• Divide the batter evenly on the cupcake pan lined with liners and bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 20-25 mins.
• keep an eye on the cake after 20 mins.The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for 5 mins.Take the cupcakes out of the pan and keep in a cooling rack till its cooled completely.Now the cupcake is ready for icing.

For the icing:

• Take the butter in a bowl and beat well.Add the icing sugar and beat well till its fluffy.Add the strawberry essence,pink food colour at the end and beat well.
• Finally add the strawberry puree( put 2 strawberries in a mixie and blend well) and beat well. Now check the consistency of the icing,if its not very thick add few more tablespoons of powdered sugar and beat well.
• Store the icing in an airtight box in the refrigerator for 15-30 mins before decorating if you feel the consistency is not very thick enough for piping.
• Decorate the cupcakes with the icing as you wish and enjoy .
• I have simply applied some icing on the top of each cake and decorated with halved strawberry.

Note:

• For the icing,adding fresh strawberry puree is optional,but I personally like to give a fresh touch to it.Don't go overboard on using the strawberry puree,if you add more ,the icing texture might turn grainy and the consistency will also become runny.

Sending this to Kid's delight Potluck party  by Srivalli and Vardhini's Bake fest#12 hosted at Funandfoodcafe this month.