Strawberry and Martini Cupcakes

I discovered that Martini and strawberries go well together so thought why not try them in cupcakes. I think these are really nice, the strawberry purée is delicious. I made them for a house warming and they seemed to go down well! Let me know what you think.


Vanilla sponge


I used this great recipe from the Joy of Baking Vanilla Cupcakes. I excluded the lemon zest as I find it a bit too lemony. This blog has lots of good recipes on it.


Strawberry purée


Half a box of strawberries (chopped as small as you can)
80ml Martini
2 tbsp sugar


Martini buttercream (great for piping)


230g unsalted butter, soft
375g icing sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Martini

1. Whilst the cakes are baking put all the purée ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until soft and "purée like" (about 10 mins). 
2. After removing the cakes from the oven and leaving them to cool, cut out a well with a sharp knife or apple corer.
3. Fill the well with the strawberry purée.
4. To make the buttercream: whisk together the butter, icing sugar and salt, then add the vanilla extract and Martini. With an electric whisk, whisk the icing until really fluffy. If you need it to be a bit firmer for piping add some icing sugar but it should be fine. 
5. Top the cupcakes with Martini buttercream. This recipe is great for piping and if you just want a vanilla buttercream substitute milk for Martini.
6. I topped the cakes with a sliver of strawberry.