Strawberry Frosting

 

This February my mother-in-law came to visit to help with the new baby as my husband went back to work.  She has been so amazing and helpful; she came out for a month last November to stay with my older daughter when the baby was born and to help out around the house.  I very much appreciated all of her help and support!  While she was here, we celebrated her birthday, which was actually a couple days after she left.  She requested a chocolate cake with strawberry frosting.  I had once tried to make strawberry frosting before using fresh strawberries, and it was terrible.  The frosting split; it tasted watery; and it looked disgusting.  After watching The Great British Baking Show, I had heard that using freeze dried strawberries gave you an intense strawberry flavor without all the extra water of fresh strawberries, so I tried that this time.  I got my recipe from here.  I made a mistake when making it, assuming that the 1 cup of freeze dried strawberries was 1 cup after being blitzed in the food processor, but it meant before.  Consequently, I ended up using twice as much strawberries as I should have, but it came out really well, with a very intense strawberry flavor, so I plan to continue doubling the strawberries.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups freeze dried strawberries (about 2 1-oz. packages)
• 1 cup butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cream or milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In food processor, blitz the strawberries until they are a powder.  In stand mixer, whisk the butter for 5 minutes on high, scraping down the bowl 1-2 times, until it becomes fluffy.  Add the powdered sugar, strawberries, cream/milk, and vanilla and mix on low speed until everything is incorporated.  Then whisk on high for 2 minutes.