Fresh Strawberry Buttercream
There has been a drastic decrease in the number of meals coming out of my kitchen! Honestly, I really don’t even know how I have gotten away with it for so long. For instance, this week’s dinners have included:
- leftover grilled flap meat
- leftover Mom’s ((homemade)) Easter Dinner Mac & Cheese
- leftover green beans ((again, from mom’s Easter dinner))
- homemade egg salad ((using my hardboiled vegetable-dyed Easter eggs))
- sandwiches ((three times))
That is pretty much it. Isn’t that a hoot?? Oh, wait — I have served big bowls of fresh strawberries with brown sugar. That turns anything into an official meal right?? Now I feel better about myself.
I am telling you, I don’t remember the last time I was wishing the sun would stay up longer. For those of you who REALLY know me, you know this contradicts me to my core!!
One of my most favorite things in the whole world is to get into my bed at the end of the day! Other people are like “I love to hike!” or “I love biking” or something else cool and productive. If you ask me?? “I like to get in bed.” Isn’t that horrible?
What has got me so out of my zone?? Working in the garden is taking every spare second of my time and attention. Actually, it is stealing my attention from all other areas of my day.
I know — my garden looks a little trashy, but this Oklahoma spring has been so crazy, hot one day and windy and freezing the next. I finally got the seedlings into the ground and have tented everything to protect the tender plants from some strong Oklahoma wind gusts ((gusts of wind and tender seedlings don’t mix!!)).
Amongst all of the garden work, I did manage to make Brod some birthday brownies and topped them off with a thick layer of fresh strawberry buttercream.
These really are the best brownies!! After a lifetime of making brownies, I have tweaked them to perfection ((at least I think so!)).
For Brod’s birthday brownies, I made them a little more special by chopping up fresh strawberries and adding them to a simple buttercream.
I started off by adding a little more than one stick of room temperature salted butter to a mixer.
I added about 1 cup of chopped fresh strawberries to the mixing bowl & mixed until the butter and strawberries were combined.
I added a teaspoon of vanilla and a dash of salt.
I used an entire bag of powdered sugar for this recipe. There was a lot of buttercream left over – but I don’t view that as a problem!
I added a TINY splash of milk — use the milk with caution! One teaspoon should be enough. The fresh strawberries will release juices and the buttercream will get very runny as time passes. So, I recommend blending in the powdered sugar before adding the milk. Allow the buttercream to rest 5 – 10 minutes, blend some more and decide if you even need milk at all.
By the time the brownies were out of the oven and the buttercream was done, it was time to head to Santa Fe for our annual Easter egg hunt with the family.
What a pretty day it was!
The cousins love this day – and so do us grown-ups!
The brownies were a real hit. I want one right now!! (((David doesn’t like the artistic license I took when snapping these photos at an angle. Sorry if it bothers you – I have been in a little out of whack lately, I guess! Ha!)))
Happy birthday to “the Brod” and pass the brownies please!
Are you like me?? Too busy to cook?? Serve leftovers or sandwiches – but whatever you do, do not skip the fresh strawberry buttercream!! So easy and crazy good!!
- 1 stick plus 2 T room temperature salted butter
- 1 c chopped strawberries
- 1 t vanilla
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 1 lb bag powdered sugar
- 1 t whole milk ((may not need it))
- Add room temperature butter and chopped strawberries to the bowl of a stand mixer. Blend on medium speed until butter & strawberries are incorporated (about 1 minute). Add vanilla, salt and powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until powdered sugar is incorporated. Increase speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes.
- Allow the buttercream to rest on the counter for 5 to 10 minutes ((even 30 minutes if you can spare it)) in order to allow the strawberries to release some of their juices before deciding if the milk is necessary.
- Add milk if necessary, mix on high 2-3 more minutes to whip the buttercream. Chill for 30 minutes before spreading over brownies or cake.
- Makes 4 1/2 cups. Lasts one week refrigerated.