Rich strawberry buttercream is the perfect choice to top your next birthday cake or cupcakes. Made with freeze dried strawberries to pack in all the strawberry flavor possible.
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What are freeze dried strawberries?
Freeze dried strawberries are strawberries that have been, well, freeze dried. Freeze drying is the process of food preservation where the fruit is frozen, then the water is removed. In freeze dried fruit the water is typically removed by sublimation. What is sublimation? When a solid becomes a gas without becoming liquid in between. So in this case the solid water inside the strawberry will become water vapor. The sublimation occurs within a vacuum. Freeze dried strawberries have a shrunken and holey appearance from the water removal and the vacuum.
Where can you buy freeze dried strawberries? I get mine at Trader Joe’s. You can typically find them at Target or just order them here from Amazon.
Why are we using freeze dried strawberries instead of fresh?
Freeze dried strawberries pack in all the flavor of fresh strawberries without the extra water. Therefore we have intense, real strawberry flavor without extra water to make the buttercream “weepy.” They also pulverize nicely into a powder, which blends into the buttercream so if we’re piping the buttercream, chunks don’t get stuck in the piping tip.
What if I don’t have a food processor?
A food processor grinds up your freeze dried strawberries into a powder quickly and easily. However, if you don’t have one, you can grind them with a mortar and pestle (does anyone have a mortar and pestle that doesn’t have a food processor? Those are both pretty food nerdy things).
You could also put them in a plastic bag and beat the heck out of them with your rolling pin or a hammer. However with this method, you will likely have bigger pieces of strawberry in your buttercream because it’s hard to beat them down with a hammer to a fine enough powder.
What cake flavors go best with strawberry buttercream?
I kinda think the sky is the limit when it comes to strawberry, but here are my favorite cake choices to go with strawberry buttercream:
- strawberry
- lemon
- chocolate
- vanilla
Does strawberry buttercream need to be refrigerated?
Yes, this recipe for strawberry buttercream needs to be refrigerated because it contains heavy cream. It can be left out for a few hours, but after that, stick it in the fridge. It will last several weeks in the fridge or you can freeze it for later use.
Strawberry Buttercream
Equipment
- Mixer
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups freeze dried strawberries one 34 gram package
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter 3 sticks, softened
- 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or whipping cream
Instructions
- Using your food processor, pulverize freeze dried strawberries until they become a powder.
- If using a stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment.
- Beat butter on high speed until smooth.
- Turn mixer speed down to low. Slowly add in powdered sugar. Beat to combine.
- Add in strawberry powder and beat to combine.
- Add in heavy cream and beat to combine. Turn mixer speed up to high and beat for 1-2 minutes (this is to "whip" the heavy cream to make your buttercream fluffy).
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Happy Baking!
Happy Baking!
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