Strawberry Ice-cream Cupcakes


We are definitely in Ekka celebration mode, with the show kicking off this week. To celebrate, I've whipped up this divine little cupcakes, inspired by the famous Ekka Strawberry Sundaes (and I have to credit the amazing cafe Vanilla Pod for the original idea).  It just uses a standard cupcake mix with buttercream. You could always add strawberry essence if you want a bit more flavour. These turned out a treat & look oh-so-cute! Plus a Family Show Taste Test below - hear what Liam & Robbie thought!

Ingredients
125g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk
1 punnet strawberries
12-18 ice cream cones
200mL thickened cream, whipped

Buttercream icing
125g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
1 tablespoon milk
Pink food colouring
Poppy seeds (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in flour and milk to combine.  Chop half of the strawberries and stir into mixture.

3/4 fill each ice-cream cone with mixture (I put too much in some of mine and they did overflow).  Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of 1 cake comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Make icing: Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a bowl until pale. Gradually add icing sugar mixture and milk, beating to combine.  Add pink food colouring.  Add poppy seeds, if desired, to replicate strawberry seeds.

Ice each cupcake cone with buttercream.  Pipe a rosette of cream on each one and top with remaining chopped fresh strawberries.

Here's Liam & Robbie's verdict...