Just in Time for Valentine's Day

Seeing how I've had this blog set up for quite awhile, I thought I'd actually post something and venture into this world of blogging. Yes, I know I'm very behind, but that wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me ;)

So, I thought what's better than kicking things off with a lovely Strawberry Cupcake with Champagne glaze recipe? Combines two of my favorite things and it's a perfect thing to share with you and yours tomorrow. The recipe below is from http://www.cupcakeproject.com/.

Enjoy!

Makes 24 cupcakes
2 1/2 C cake flour
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 C unsalted butter
1 1/2 C sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 C buttermilk
1/4 C canola oil
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 C finely chopped fresh strawberries
In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer.
Add eggs. Mix until smooth and creamy.
Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until just combined.
Stir in strawberries.
Fill cupcake liners half way full.
Bake at 350 F for 18-20 minutes. Let cool.

Champagne Glaze
1 stick butter
1 C sugar
1/4 C water
1/4 C Champagne
Boil butter, sugar, and water for 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat.
Stir in champagne and let cool.
When I took the butter, sugar, and water mixture off the stove and mixed the champagne into the hot mixture it was delish and it had a strong champagne flavor. After it cooled on the cupcakes it was still great, but the champagne flavor did become a bit more subtle.How to Glaze a Cupcake. The trick I learned for glazing a cupcake is dip the cupcake into the pot of glaze and twist the cupcake as you take it out to keep the glaze from dripping off. Coincidentally, dip and twist sounds like a move from my new hip-hop class. I double-dipped (a restaurant faux pas) but very important here to get a nice thick layer of glaze.