Strawberry desserts fall into two categories: those that taste like freshly picked strawberries, like local hand-churned strawberry ice cream, and those that have an intensely sweet strawberry flavor, like strawberry lollipops or the strawberry syrup drizzled over diner strawberry cheesecake. I’m a huge fan of the former. Pile too much sugar into strawberry desserts and you lose that berry patch simplicity.
These strawberry basil cupcakes fit comfortably into the first category. They are made with food-processed fresh strawberries, and basil sugar is used instead of plain sugar to give the cupcakes a more vibrant taste. Instead of hiding the cake’s flavor behind a sweeter strawberry frosting, the basil buttercream complements the strawberry and brings out its flavor even more. These are the cupcakes I’ll reach for again and again in the dog days of summer when no fake flavor will do and the earth is ripe for picking.
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