strawberry fields forever

These are pictures of my little one watering her own little strawberry patch. I would show you pictures of the ripe ones, but she wakes up early and picks them so the robins wont eat the ripe ones...so I have yet to get a picture.
This has definitely been a strawberry year. Sometimes, they seem so flavorless and the flesh is white, but this year, probably due to all of the moisture, the strawberries are so big and flavorful. I am not fond of cooked strawberries but i love to add fresh ones to recipes. This is a fun take on a strawberry shortcake, just more portable. Hope you enjoy it.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CUPCAKES

½ cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 vanilla bean, scraped
½ cup sour cream
1 cup milk
3 cups APF
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ cups pudding, strawberry or vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light. Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time and mix well. Beat in the sour cream. Sift the dry ingredients directly into the bowl and mix well on a low-medium speed slowly adding the milk. Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with paper. Bake for 18 minutes. Cool on a rack. When cupcakes are completely cooled, put the pudding into a pastry bag or zip lock bag with a round pastry tip and push gently into the center. Squeeze just enough pudding out to fill the cupcake until it plumps but not so much that it oozes out. Frost with Cream cheese Frosting and top off with a fresh strawberry.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
½ cup butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
6 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons cream.
1 Tablespoon vanilla

With a mixer, combine 1 cup of sugar with the butter and cream cheese and beat until very smooth. Next add the rest of the sugar and beat until smooth. Finally, add the vanilla and cream and beat on medium speed for two minutes or so. *If you need to add more cream feel free to do so.