Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Is it just me or do strawberry shortcakes scream barbeque in the summertime? Maybe it's just me. When I was brainstorming 4th of July desserts the other day, berry shortcake immediately came to my mind. I was thinking of blueberries and strawberries to make it a red, white and blue dessert. But then, I thought of something better... what if I could make strawberry shortcakes into a cupcake? GENIUS! I didn't even google it to find out how many other people thought of it before me because I simply did not want to know. I wanted to keep thinking how big of a genius I was. So I set out for a vanilla cupcake recipe. The one I found was a bit crumbly and not overly sweet so it was perfect for what I was trying to achieve. I was having problems deciding if I wanted to use a biscuit base or a cupcake base and I feel like these cupcakes fell somewhere in between so it worked out really well. Probably not a cupcake I would make to have with icing though, but maybe you'll feel differently. I gave these to my friends and they all loved them so I hope you like them too. Enjoy these cupcakes and feel free to add some blueberries to make these 4th of July worthy!

**Note: this is another Jeff approved recipe. Look for his commentary in the comment box**


Ingredients:
For the Cupcake:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk


For the Filling:
1 lb. strawberries
1/4 cup sugar

For the Topping:
Whipped Cream (homemade, Cool Whip, from the can, etc.)
Sliced Strawberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Add eggs and continue mixing until eggs are incorporated. Then, add vanilla, baking powder, salt, flour and milk. Continue mixing on low speed until the batter reaches a good consistency. Line a muffin tin with baking cups. Pour cupcake batter into the cups with either a spoon or an ice cream scoop, about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely.

In the meantime, to make the filling, wash, hull and slice 1 lb of strawberries. Mash them up a bit with a fork or potato masher so that you get some smaller pieces in there. Then add 1/4 cup of sugar and mix gently. Let sit for 30 minutes to let the sugars release from the strawberries.

To fill cupcakes, take a knife and cut out a cone from the top of the muffin. Take a spoonful of the strawberries and fill the cupcake. Take a dollop of whipped cream and cover the strawberries. Garnish with sliced strawberries if desired.

Source: Vanilla cupcake recipe adapted from Amy Sedaris's Vanilla Cupcakes on Epicurious
              Concept and filling recipe are an A Dash of Megnut original.