Pink Lady Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place liners in a standard muffin/cupcake tin.

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point. (Adrianna’s note: In the original recipe, Deb warned to not try the batter, and of course, I did. And it was incredible. Since then, I’ve been tempted to skip the baking part and just eat a cup of batter. Gross.)

In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and red food dye, if using, to blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter amongst the muffin cups 3/4 of the way full.

Bake the cupcakes for 15 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes inside the muffin tins and then transfer to wire racks until throughly cooled.

For the frosting, in a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

When the cupcakes are completely cooled, ice each cupcake and top with shredded coconut, if desired.