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Oh, how I love strawberry season!

Living in Florida, strawberries aren’t that hard to come by. Finding nice strawberries, however, can be a pain. One of my favorite places to get fresh strawberries is Parkesdale Farms. Every so often I’ll take a drive over and brave the hoards of people to pick up some berries. Parkesdale is also well known around here for their strawberry shortcake and strawberry milkshakes, as evident by the lines (yes, plural) of people waiting that wrap around the building and spill out into the parking lot.

So, last week, I made the trip, found a parking spot after what seemed like an hour (okay, so it was 5 minutes), said my prayers, and ventured in. Twenty-five minutes later, I was safely back in my vehicle with a beautiful flat of strawberries.

Sorbet is something I’ve wanted to make for quite some time. So, this was a perfect excuse to break out the ice cream machine and try this recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. The sorbet came out wonderfully! Sweet, but not icky sweet like store bought sorbet can sometimes be (plus, no nasty preservatives). It really showcases the wonderful taste and sweetness of the strawberries. Mmmm!

Strawberry Sorbet
adapted from The Perfect Scoop

1 pound (450 g) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1 teaspoon kirsch (optional)
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Slice the strawberries and toss in a medium bowl with sugar and kirsch, if using. Stir until the sugar begins to dissolve. Cover and let stand for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Puree the strawberries and their liquid with the lemon juice and salt in a blender or food processor until smooth. If you wish to remove the seeds, press the mixture through a strainer.

Chill thoroughly (overnight is best), then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

It will be fairly soft at this point so you may want to pop it in the freezer for a few hours or until it gets to the desired consistency.

No Ice cream maker? No problem! Check out this post from David Lebovitz on how to make ice cream & sorbet without a machine.

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It has been quite some time since I last baked (and blogged about) cupcakes. October of last year, to be exact. That’s entirely too long for one to go without cupcakes!

To put an end to the cupcake dry spell, I wanted to bake something special. I had the idea for these cupcakes while shopping at Bath & Body Works. Weird, yes, but stay with me here. See, every year they have a few holiday scented body lotions and this past year, they had one called Yuletide Pear Vanilla. After smelling it, I declared, “Hey, this smells good enough to eat!”.

The result? Pear Vanilla Bean cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream frosting.

The cupcakes are very moist and flavorful thanks to the fresh pears. Add in a bit of vanilla bean and it gets even better!

For more of a vanilla flavor kick, I used pure vanilla bean paste. This is the first recipe I’ve used it in and I have to say, I’m a fan! I love this stuff! It has a thicker consistency and is flecked with vanilla bean seeds. You can use it 1:1 in place of vanilla extract or vanilla beans.

I had originally planned to use vanilla beans for these cupcakes, but I just couldn’t justify spending around $7 for two beans. Thankfully, I stumbled upon vanilla bean paste. It is much more economical and much easier to use!

To shred the pears, I first peeled them using a veggie peeler. Then, after slicing the pears in half lengthwise, I used a melon baller to scoop out the seeds. And finally, I coarsely shredded them using a box grater.

The Bosc pears I used were very juicy, so to avoid a gushy mess of what was supposed to be cupcake batter, I added a touch more flour to even out the moisture.

To top off these babies, I frosted them with Cupcake Project’s Vanilla Bean Buttercream. Just a note, the recipe only made enough frosting to frost about 6 cupcakes, so you’ll have to up the amounts to frost all of the cupcakes.

Had a slight wrapper malfunction. I was trying these new (to me, anyway) greaseproof cupcake liners but when they came out of the oven they had completely separated from the cupcakes. They looked odd, so just took them out. Less work to do before they get eaten!

Pear Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
adapted from Martha Stewart

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla bean paste
4 cups coarsely shredded pears, such as Bosc (about 1 3/4 pounds)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 standard cupcake tins with paper liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add in vanilla paste and eggs. Reduce speed to low; mix in shredded pears. Add flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix until just combined.

Divide the batter among lined cups, filling halfway. Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are springy to the touch. Remove cupcakes from the tins and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting: Vanilla Bean Buttercream (from Cupcake Project)

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