Strawberry Cupcakes with Easy Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

If you type in #AMWCooks on Instagram, you'll notice I haven't done anything "baked".  I guess it's because I have a brother who is an AWESOME baker I just leave the "Baker Crown" to him!

But when I was gifted a Maya gift pack with easy-to-follow recipes a couple of weeks ago, I knew I had to give this recipe a try because I love eating muffins and I really want to get my hands dirty in creating my own cupcakes!  (If I love to eat cupcakes, I may as well learn to make it right?)

For a first-timer, these came out not bad right?

Strawberry Cupcakes with Easy Vanilla Buttercream

If we can do it, you definitely can!

Ingredients for Strawberry Cupcakes

• 1 pack MAYA Pancake and Baking Mix 350g
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 cup strawberry jam
• 1/4 cup water

Ingredients for Vanilla Buttercream

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 4 cups sifted confencioner's sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Let's start with the Strawberry Cupcake preparation:

• Mix all ingredients (MAYA Pancake and Baking Mix, sugar, oil, eggs, lemon extract, strawberry jam and water)

• Mix until everything until you don't see any lumps.  At this stage, I just leave the mixing to my son who was so eager to do this task and do the rest once he's tired!

At this stage, you have to quit worrying about mess and enjoy the ride!  It will be messy for sure but it was all worth it!

• Once you are happy with the consistency, scoop batter and fill it into a muffin pan until 3/4 full.

• The oven was preheated over 350F/177C.  Bake for 20-25 minutes and remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Prepare Vanilla Buttercream as you wait for the strawberry cupcakes

• Cream butter and shortening together with a mixer or wooden spoon.  We have a mixture at home but we chose to do the manual labor because again, this is not just a baking activity but bonding time between me and my son.
• Gradually add the sugar followed by milk and vanilla.

• Beat until light and fluffy and add more sugar if needed depending on your desired sweetness.

• I let Kyle do his work as I enjoy watching how he is such a natural in the kitchen!

Once the cupcakes are ready and cooled....

Feel free to spread or pipe the vanilla buttercream on cooled cupcakes. 

Note to everyone: The Vanilla Buttercream isn't fluffy enough as I left my son to do that job!  For me, I don't mind the not-so-pretty buttercream as long as we enjoyed the activity and nevertheless, they tasted really good!

Fellow mommies with toddlers, don't be scared to let your daughter or son play with you in the kitchen!  They don't need to have interest on cooking or baking but letting them in with your daily activities will make them feel closer to you, at the same time, they learn so much in terms of ingredients, colors, shapes and even textures!  Kyle can now say: "Eggs" "Butter" "Flour" "Strawberry" because I highly believe in FUN-Learning!  

Kudos to Kyle for a great job and all thanks to my ever supportive husband Mr. AMW for cleaning up the mess we made and for taking our photos!  This is entirely a family affair I will keep in my heart forever!

Any other easy-to-do, kid-friendly recipes you may want to share?

Keep smilin'
Stay happy!