This autumn term has reintroduced Thursday bake day into my life, the day when I bake goodies for the girls to take into school to share with their friends. You may think that I’m way over the top baking goodies each week (unless it’s someone’s birthday and they’re bringing in homemade treats) but I think it’s so important for my girls (and those around them) to enjoy friendly treats which they can enjoy, rather than the special, weird foods everyone shies away from. We have a few dear friends who bake so that both girls are included, and one family in particular who go to amazing lengths to ensure that little S doesn’t feel different; but on the whole, if it’s not me baking, then they’ll end up with a bag of haribo whilst everyone else scoffs cakes. It’s lucky they like haribo! Anyway, so Friday cake day has become a tradition and most often the requested treat is cupcakes…. No surprises there!
This is a delicious variation on a simple vanilla cupcake – infused with delicate strawberry flavour, and then iced with a wonderfully blush strawberry buttercream, these cupcakes are a notch up from the usual.
Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)
makes 24
400g self-raising flour
200g caster sugar
pinch of salt
200ml sunflower oil
300ml dairy-free milk
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp strawberry flavouring
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas mark 4. Place liners in a cupcake tray
- Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the dairy-free milk, bicarb, lemon, strawberry flavouring and oil.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix, until well combines.
- 2/3rds fill the liners and bake for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden and a knife comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack.
For the strawberry buttercream:
1/4 cup vegetable fat (such as Trex)
3/4 cup dairy-free margarine (such as Pure)
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup strawberry puree (fresh strawberries whizzed up to a puree in a blender and then sieved)
- Whisk together the spread and vegetable fat.
- Add the icing sugar, 1/2 cup at a time with a splash of the strawberry puree, until fully combined and nice and fluffy.
- use to top the cupcakes and then sprinkle with freeze-dried strawberry pieces
16 Responses
Oh dear piggy heavens. My favorites – strawberries and cupcakes in one. THUD – piggy down! XOXO – Bacon
It’s a winning combo for sure 🙂
These sound great! My sister is allergic to egg and dairy products, I must make her a batch.
If you do, I hope she enjoys them x
Oh strawberry cupcakes, definitely how to cheer up a Monday 😊.
Definitely – or any day 😉
What a lovely tradition! I think it’s so nice that the girls have something wonderful they can treat everyone with — especially since they aren’t allowed to have 99% of what everyone else is eating. I do have a question though: What is strawberry flavor? Is that sold in the UK? If we had it here, I’d be terrified it would be pure chemicals, with cock roach shells to make it look pink. When I make strawberry cupcakes I puree and strain strawberries and substitute them for some of the liquid ingredients. Sounds like you’ve done what with the frosting. I don’t think we have Trex either…I must check!
Thank you – at least little s is still of an age that her friends rally round and love cakes on a Friday – sadly big S who has just moved to senior school has started to encounter the ‘ oh I don’t eat dairyfree’ 🙁
I used a strawberry essence (natural and full of flavour) I bought in France – I think most would be best avoided and I think strawberry purée is a far better choice x
Oh trust the French! They have such amazing cooking technology! How rude that someone is refusing to eat dairy-free. Also, silly. Is it a gluten thing? Here in the States, loads of people have decided gluten is killing them — with absolutely no scientific evidence to support it. As you can tell, this annoys me when there are kids like yours who actually CAN’T eat some things because it’s dangerous for them.
Oh we get that here too – plus the most annoying ‘oh yes I’m allergic but go on then I’ll just have a little bit’ – so annoying because it makes people think that a little bit is ok. This was just children being thoughtless – but it is hurtful
Yes — allergic does NOT mean you try not to eat it or just feel a bit ill when you indulge (as I do when I eat dairy). It’s life or death. And people who fuss about things like gluten when they have no actual allergy make the poor people who are truly allergic seem as if they have a choice too! If it bugs me, I can’t imagine how it makes you feel. (And a good friend of mine who is deathly allergic to nuts has had to go to the Emergency room in LA more than once because everyone there pretends they can’t eat this and that so servers don’t take allergies seriously, assuming customers are just being self-indulgent and silly.)
We’re definitely on the same wavelength! X
I’m headed to LA tomorrow — the home of people who pretend to have food allergies!
I bet!
Those cupcakes look wonderful! I love the freeze dried strawberry sprinkles!
Thanks x