Strawberry Cupcake

 These are my new all time favorite cupcakes, they are AMAZING!! I might like them so much because I accidently added 1/4 cup extra sugar, but they are delicious nonetheless.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¼ cups sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
1 cup milk
2½ cups finely chopped fresh strawberries

For the frosting:
2 Cups (4 sticks) of butter at room temperature
2 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
2/3 Cup blended strawberries
4 Cups Powdered Sugar

Directions

For the cupcakes:
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the eggs and egg white one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the milk, mixing each addition just until incorporated.  Gently fold in the chopped strawberries with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the paper liners, filling each about ¾-full.  Bake until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Allow to cool in the pans a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

Beat butter with hand mixer for 3 minutes until fluffy.
Add Vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
Add Strawberry preserves and beat until incorporated.
Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.  Mix until frosting is fluffy with medium peaks.