Strawberry and Marscapone Filled Cupcakes

A fellow co-worker of mine was nice enough to cover a shift for me. Of course my way of saying "thank you", "sorry", or "Happy_____" is baking something so I had to make her something good. After discussing her likes and dislikes in terms of flavors I was able to decide on making these fabulous strawberry marscapone filled cupcakes. I had my eye on this recipe on Foodnetwork.com for a while now. It's a recipe by Giada so you know it's good. Althought I love and respect Giada, I had to make a few changes to her recipe. She used a boxed cake mix which I believe to be a no-no and she also had a white glaze and no topping. I wanted these to be girly so I went with a pink glaze and a strawberry on top...you KNOW I can't resist the sprinkles either :)

Strawberry and Marscapone Filled Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg white, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1 (8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese, chilled
1/2 cup thawed and drained frozen strawberries (I used fresh)
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper foil or liners.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and egg white one at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Then add vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions; alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat on medium-high speed just until no traces of flour remain, about 30 seconds, do not overbeat.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes (for mini cupckaes do about 10 minutes or so). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour

In a food processor combine the mascarpone cheese, strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice. Process the mixture until smooth. Transfer the strawberry mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a small tip. Push the tip gently into the bottom of a cupcake and squeeze in the strawberry mixture until the cupcake plumps. Continue with the remaining cupcakes.

In a small saucepan bring the 1/2 cup sugar, water, and vanilla extract to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved. In a medium bowl combine the vanilla syrup with the confectioner's sugar. Stir until smooth. Working quickly, use a rubber spatula spread the icing on the top of the cupcakes. If the icing begins to firm up, place in the microwave for a few seconds to warm up again.