Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting and Easter

The Hunt Begins!

Totally aware of the fact that I didn’t get a recipe out before the big Easter recap, and I am sorry.  Do you want to know why?  I didn’t bake anything else last week that wasn’t for Easter!  So there is that.  However, even though this is a recap, I actually do have a recipe for you and it is one that I have teased since December.  It is for those of you, like me, that have ever made a strawberry frosting that got too runny to be happy with (or yes, even to use).  It is because of the secret ingredient…freeze dried strawberries!  Pulverize them and throw them into your whipped butter and cream cheese and they will soak up moisture like gangbusters.

Although a more wet frosting might not actually be too big deal on cupcakes, it can ruin a layer cake (sorry Aunt Sylvia, Trader Joe’s was out of the strawberries that week).  So if you have ever had a top layer of a cake slide away because of a loose fruit frosting, give this a try.  I unfortunately did not come up with this idea on my own but I am running with it.  I have a bag of freeze dried bananas that I want to work with next!

Now onto Easter…

I started by baking two different kind of cupcakes on Friday night.  I had to do them that night because I was bringing half to an Easter egg hunt on Saturday that we do with my in-laws and their friends (technically friends, but actually family) every year.  I made chocolate cupcakes using this Black Magic Cake recipe from My Baking Addiction and my adaptation of Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting from Joanne Choi at Week of Menus.  Then I made Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream from Joy the Baker.  O man, that was an adventure.  I tried to make my own Dulce de Leche and it mostly worked but then I let it sit out too long before I started the frosting and it got too hard to use.  I had tried to find prepared Dulce de Leche at three different stores and couldn’t find it.  I needed more powdered sugar anyway if I was going to give this recipe another go because even though it was too hard, I had tried to use my Dulce de Leche anyway.  So I finally went to the store closest to my home, and of course, THAT is where the prepared Dulce de Leche was hiding.  Whew!  Problem solved.  Don’t ask me what I would have done if I hadn’t found it because I have no clue.  I was making the frostings Saturday morning and once I found my elusive ingredient it was already 11 am and we had to be at the park at 1 pm and the kids still needed to shower.  Luckily we ended up being only a half hour late and we had a GREAT afternoon.

Once we came home, I made these Easter Thumbprint Cookies from A Bowl Of Mush.  A double batch!

They went over very well. This container was full to the brim when I brought them. I think their smaller size make them very snackable.

When those were finished, that was when I realized that I had just made something extra for Easter and I hadn’t yet made what I was supposed to bring (an Ambrosia salad), plus the Easter Bunny STILL had to work his magic and I was till considering making something else for brunch but it was already closing in on 11 pm.  Well, I whipped up the Ambrosia in a flash (my family just calls it what it is, Marshmallow Salad), began the dough for these and then the Easter Bunny had time to get things going and done around the time my husband got home.  Once he went off to bed, I finished up the rolls, let them rise for a bit and put them in the fridge to bake in the morning.  The rolls were awesome especially considering it was my first time using that recipe.  I will definitely use it again.

They didn't really go at brunch (we eat brunch and lunner) but they were all gone before we left!

Easter was awesome!  It has been my favorite holiday for most of my life (the best candy, Mimosas, my sister’s cheesy potatoes, I ADORE the way we do our hunts plus the adults get their own separate hunt-it is just the BEST) and I love watching my kids enjoy it too!

Not the best posed picture, and boy were the little ones frustrating me when I took it, but thank goodness because this is my FAVORITE!

My GeekyLink this week is something I just saw this evening and I thought it was so wonderful, I moved it to the top of my GeekyLink list.  It is from geek with curves (great blog name by the way) and it is a Nerd Shoe Craftacular.  I want to do some of this and I want some of those shoes.  None of the heels, though.  I wear them begrudgingly.  I would certainly not wear them as part of my Nerd gear but that is just me.  I am not all that arty but I can work with fabric glue and glitter and all that and any drawing can be done by my niece, especially if she wants me to buy her a pair to nerd out on herself.  Also one of the people mentioned in this blog post is justJENN recipes, check out her blog because I am totally jealous of her and she doesn’t just talk the nerd talk, she bakes the nerd food.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from Week of Menus

Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1 package (1.2 oz) Trader Joe’s freeze dried strawberries, pulverized in a mini chopper or food processor (do not pulverize till jut before using)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoon diced (or also pulverized) fresh strawberries, 2-3 berries (optional)

6 cups confectioners sugar

Method

In a large mixing bowl, place the softened butter and salt and beat until it is well mixed.  Scrape down the sides then add the cream cheese beat again.  Add the freeze dried strawberries and 3 cups of confectioners sugar to the mixture and beat again.  Scrape down your bown again and add your vanilla, heavy cream, and fresh strawberries (if using) and beat until just combined.  Add the last 3 cups of confectioners sugar and beat on low until fully incorporated and then beat on high until whipped as you like.

My family really loves this recipe, however, my sister said on Sunday that it was too strawberry-y.  Well it IS a strawberry frosting, right?

Pulverized freeze dried strawberries