Recipe: Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups

strawberries (about 8 oz)

large egg whites

1 cup

plus 2 tablespoons sugar

salt

1 lb

unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature

1 1/2 tsp

pure vanilla extract

Strawberry Layer Cake

4 1/2 cups

cake flour

3 cups

sugar

5 1/4 tsp

baking powder

3/4 tsp

salt

3 sticks

unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups

pureed fresh or frozen strawberries

egg whites

2/3 cup

milk

to 2 drops of red food coloring to make it more pink (in my case a tsp of red gel, because I wanted it red)