Mini Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

To make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a mini-cupcake tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, beat butter about 1 minute until creamy and light yellow in color. Add Splenda Sweetener and cream together by beating another minute. Then beat in egg yolks and vanilla.
4. Alternate adding in the dry ingredients and the milk to the bowl. Add about ⅓ of each at a time, beginning with the dry ingredients, and scraping down sides of bowl as you go. Fold in finely diced strawberries. Very gently fold in stiff egg whites.
5. Scoop batter into the mini muffin tin, filling each ¾ of the way full. Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Remove and set aside to cool. When slightly cooled, remove each from the tin and set aside to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the strawberry cream cheese frosting:

1. First, turn the Splenda Sweetener into a powdered sweetener by adding it and the cornstarch to a blender, and blending for 10 – 15 seconds. Sweetener should look powdery and light. Set aside.
2. Pulverize dried strawberries in a food processor until a sand-like texture is reached.
3. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until soft and creamy. Add the freeze-dried strawberries and vanilla, beating until well-incorporated. Beat in powdered sweetener. If mixture is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of liquid (either milk, nut milk, or cream); if mixture is too thin, add a little more sweetener.
4. Put Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting in a piping bag, and pipe frosting on each mini cupcake. Enjoy immediately!