Sweet Treat Friday- Strawberry Cupcakes

This is my treat for Mother’s Day this weekend, a simple Strawberry cupcake! I want simple but sweet and of course a real treat. I also posted my simple meal for this weekend as well, I guest post for Sam over at Have Sippy Will Travel so if you don’t happen to follow her, I would! You can find the sandwich I plan to spoil myself with right here.
The frosting was a bit of a mess, it has been hot here so in turn it makes making frosting difficult at times.. Or maybe perhaps it was the fact that instead of preserves which the recipe called for I used fresh cut strawberries and made it much more of a liquid frosting than anything. Either way the frosting was messy.  I had to add more sugar to make it thicker. In the end the frosting came out great, it’s just messy! I can live with a little messy if it tastes like this!

This recipe is a Basic Cake Recipe, creates 4 equal portions of cake mix.

Ingredients for mix
9 1/2 cups flour
6 cups sugar
1/4 cup baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
2 1/2 cups shortening, softened (not melted)

Directions to make mix
In a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the softened shortening, cutting it in and mixing till the mixture resembles a crumb like appearance. Divide mixture into 4 portions measuring at 4 and 1/2 cups each. Place in sealed zip lock bags and or airtight container in a dry place for up to 2 months. You can put this in the freezer as well, it will hold up to 6 months.

Directions to make cake or cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 Prepare your cake pans, or muffins tins just as you would any box cake mix.
In a large bowl combine all the ingredients. Beat until smooth for about a minute. Pour into prepared pans, muffins tins or sheet cake pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. A 9×13 cake comes out at about 25 minutes, cupcakes about 12 minutes.

Cream Cheese Icing–
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter
1/4 cup preserves
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
Directions to make frosting-

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add preserves and vanilla , and beat until well combined. Add in sugar and salt beating until smooth.
Spread Strawberry Cream-Cheese Icing between layers and on top and sides of cake. Garnish with strawberries, if desired.

~Enjoy!

Happy Mother’s Day to all you lovely Ladies!