Strawberry Cupcakes

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 mold cupcake tin with paper liners. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine the vanilla cake mix per the instructions on the box. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, toss the diced strawberries and a little bit of the flour. Keep adding little bits of flour until the strawberries are lightly coated and not sticking together.
• Fold the strawberries into your batter with a spatula until evenly distributed.
• Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 of the way full, or until all 12 cupcake liners are evenly filled. Bake per the instructions on the box.

For the strawberry buttercream

• In a medium saucepan, combine the chopped strawberries and lemon juice and bring to a simmer on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue to lightly simmer until the strawberry bits are soft and resemble jam. It should stick to your wooden spoon, about 10 minutes.
• Allow the strawberry mixture to cool completely before starting your buttercream.
• Place your softened butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes).
• Add in 3 tablespoons of the cooled strawberry mixture and beat until combined, about 1 minute.
• Add your powdered sugar in, one cup at a time, and mix on low speed until all of the sugar has been added.
• Add in the heavy cream and salt, then beat on high speed for 2 minutes to thicken and fluff the buttercream.
• Add the buttercream to a piping bag with a Wilton 2D piping tip (or your preference) and pipe onto each cooled cupcake.
• Top with small fresh strawberries if desired!