#RoyalSundayRecipe - Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes!

This post is sponsored by Royal Baking Powder.

Cupcakes are always a hit in the Vijendranath household. Kitana loves eating them and I enjoy baking them for her! It’s simple, quick and a delicious treat for afternoon tea.

Kitana and I have been spending some much-needed quality time in the kitchen. We have been trying new and old recipes, so it wasn’t too difficult thinking about what to bake for the Royal Sunday Recipe challenge.

I knew I had to do an old time favourite but this time, I tried out a new recipe, added a twist and surprised my little girl by incorporating her favourite fruit – strawberries!

It’s not easy convincing a 4-year-old to try something new but when I mentioned strawberries and what mommy could win, she happily agreed!

Royal Baking Powder is running a competition on their newly launched Facebook page where fans will stand a chance to win big!

To enter, simply post a picture of your dessert with your tin. Remember to add your city with the hashtag #MadeinJoburg, #MadeInDurban or #MadeInCapeTown to Facebook tagging Royal Baking Powder SA page and using the hashtag #RoyalSundayRecipe. Your entry will put you in line for a chance to win Yuppiechef vouchers, personalised baking accessories or the grand prize of a R35 000 royal kitchen revamp or even just a well-deserved summer break. The competition closes 11 December 2016.

Royal Baking Powder has been a tried and trusted kitchen staple for over 150 years. It’s a product that no Sunday meal is ever complete without.

It brings back so many childhood memories for me.

Baking together was something my mom and I loved doing together on a Saturday night! I used to patiently wait for her to finish baking so I could lick the wooden spoon clean, and watch the cupcakes rise in the oven while enjoying a cup of tea with her.

Sundays were the days to relax, watch a movie and indulge in our baked goodies that we had prepared the night before.

Cupcakes are one of those childhood treats that you just never outgrow! So today I am sharing a recipe that my mom shared with me.

I haven’t tried baking strawberry cupcakes before.

This may be the first time for me but it definitely isn’t going to be the last especially since my daughter loves strawberries! It’s the perfect cupcake for summer parties or even Christmas and it has cream cheese! 😉

Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes Recipe:

Ingredients:

8 large fresh (17 small) strawberries or as needed

2 eggs

200g caster sugar

75ml vegetable oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

200g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons custard powder (optional)

1 drop red food colouring (optional)

Cream cheese icing:

175g cream cheese softened

30g unsalted butter softened

60g icing sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large fresh strawberries, sliced

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease 12 holes of a cupcakes tin with oil or line with cupcake cases.

2. Place 8 (or more) strawberries into a blender and blend until smooth.

3. Pour the puree through a sieve to remove seeds. Puree should equal about 175ml. Set puree aside.

4. In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, caster sugar, vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, lemon zest and strawberry puree until well combined.

5. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, custard powder and red food colouring to reach the desired shade of pink.

6. Spoon the cake mixture into prepared cupcake tin, filling each about 2/3 full.

7. Bake in the preheated oven until the cupcakes have risen and a skewer inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out clean, about 23 minutes.

8. Allow the cupcakes to cool at least 10 minutes before icing.

9. To make cream cheese icing, beat cream cheese and butter together in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and mix in icing sugar and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract to make a lump-free icing.

10. Ice each cupcake with about 2 tablespoons of icing and top each cupcake with a strawberry slice.