First Birthday Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Well, we have survived the first birthday party of our first child. It was everything a first birthday should be: full of fun, family, presents, and plenty of sugar.

We began the festivities by taking a little dip in the pool. James was not too sure about the water at first, it was not quite as warm as tub water, and felt especially cool when it reached his belly. But soon he learned that he could splash, just like in the tub, and pretty soon he was lovin' it.

Then we sang happy birthday and he got his very own cupcake. Of which he ate the entire thing, no problem.

Although he was exhausted by the time we opened gifts, he was excited about the toys, books, and one giant red bouncy ball that were given to him.

Needless to say, by the time we pulled away from the curb at the end of night, he was completely asleep, despite the copious amount of sugar he had consumed. Which brings me to the cupcakes.

They were, if I do say so myself (and I did, and my entire family made fun of me for it), incredible. The cake was extremely moist as the result of both buttermilk and sour cream in the batter, and the frosting, oh the frosting! It was so sweet and creamy and had just the perfect amount of strawberry flavor.

I also made mango and blueberry frosting, but did not like them nearly as much as the strawberry, so they were only used to decorate the cakes. You can make the frosting with any other fruit by substituting different fruit purees for the strawberry.

First Birthday Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
makes about 16 regular sized cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes (so maybe about 20 regular sized all together?)
for the cake:
1 3/4 (about 8 oz) cup flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (I used lowfat)
1/3 cup sour cream (I used lowfat)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line or spray muffin tins.
Combine flour, potato starch, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, set aside. Beat butter and sugar together until it resembles course sand. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk and sour cream until most lumps are gone. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the sugar mixture, alternating, and starting and ending with the flour mixture.
Pour batter about 3/4 of the way up into prepared muffin tins. Fill any tins that are not being used with water.
Bake about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let stand in the muffin tins five minutes before removing and letting the cupcakes cool completely on a cooling rack.

for frosting:
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp pureed ripe strawberries
1 stick butter
about 4 cups powdered sugar
Beat the butter and strawberry puree together. Add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. The frosting will seem runny. Cool in refrigerator about an hour before decorating cupcakes with the frosting.
Enjoy.