Last night’s party was so much fun. I love seeing people eating, laughing and having a good time in my home. My husband works with a great crowd of people. They’re all pretty hilarious.

I’ll share some party food recipes soon, but today you need to check out these Strawberry Cupcakes.

When it comes to cupcakes I go for salted caramel, any kind of Oreo, or something filled with cream. So, I was surprised at how much I loved these strawberry cupcakes.

There are so many local, fresh strawberries around at the moment that I thought I would give strawberry cupcakes a try. Unbelievable. The cupcakes are moist and marry perfectly with the strawberry-cream cheese icing. Highly recommended.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chopped strawberries

Ingredients for the frosting:

½ cup strawberries (I was in a rush, so I used strawberry ice cream topping. Worked great, flavor-wise, but the icing was not as pink as I would have liked.)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs vanilla

Directions for the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. Sift flour, salt and baking soda into a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chopped strawberries.

4. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full with batter. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Directions for the frosting:

1. Purée strawberries in food processor. Strain through a mesh sieve to remove seeds. Set aside.

2. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla and strawberry purée. Adjust the amount of purée to achieve desired consistency. Frost cupcakes when completely cool.

Yield: about 18 cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Good Things Catered via Annie’s Eats

You might remember reading about my adoration of Okkervil River here. Their new album has been out since May 10th and is truly fantastic.

I was sifting through the songs trying to decide my favorite. I can’t. I love them all. They work as a team. As usual, Will Sheff writes music that you want to listen to in the order he intended.

In the end, I chose to share Show Yourself. The soft voice, the drum line, the build up, the let down. Just feel that tension. As unbelievably good as the Strawberry Cupcakes.

“I’ve had enough
I can see and almost know
That there is no one there to help you
There is no one there to hold you, let it go”

Okkervil River-Show Yourself

(When you buy the album, make a special note of how perfectly We Need A Myth feels following Show Yourself. It’s a prime example of the fluidity you are going to find here.)

Okkervil River are playing the Nor’easter Festival In Burlington, VT this September. I hope I can make it. It the same weekend that The National plays Boston. Could be some serious driving involved there.

Little ole lyric-centric me LOVES this video with the words shouting out at you. The song is still available for free download on Okkervil River’s website. Buy ‘I Am Very Far’ while you are there. Pick up their earlier stuff, too. It’s all amazing. The words, the music. Perfect.

Cheers!