Strawberries and Cream...Cheese!

Before we say goodbye to February, let me share with you a muffin or cupcake recipe (however you may want to classify it) that I created and discovered to be insanely delicious and I call it Strawberries and Cream...Cheese!

Strawberries, I could say, is not a Philippine local fruit though we grow some here particularly in the cold places like La Trinidad, Benguet.  Located in this town is the the famous Strawberry Farm where tourists and locals alike can pick their own strawberries though at a higher or twice the cost from the ones being sold at the local markets.  Why so? I really don't know though according to Go Baguio, strawberry is a very delicate fruit and may be damaged during the activity when non farmers or 'amateurs' do the picking.  So half the price for the fruit itself and another half for the 'activity' of picking.  In short, you pay for the experience, ahahah!

I am not a fan of strawberry though I eat it occasionally when used as an ingredient on desserts or cakes, not on it's own.  Don't ask me why 'coz I don't know the answer either *wink*. 

If this fruit is not on my list of favorites, why the heck am I making a post about it? It is because a good recipe and a delicious goodie is meant to be shared.  After making this muffin, I told myself that I will never look at strawberry the same way again.  They really are heaven sent!

STRAWBERRIES and CREAM...CHEESE!
(Print this Recipe)

 


Ingredients
for the muffin
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
2 medium eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk

For the filling
1/4 cup chopped strawberries
200gms cream cheese
3 Tbsp caster sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 325F.

Line muffin tray with muffin cups. Set aside.

Make the filling.
In a bowl, soften cream cheese and mix in sugar until dissolved.  Add strawberries and mix well.  set aside.

Make the muffin batter.
In a mixing bowl, sift together flour and baking powder.  Add sugar and salt and chopped strawberries Mix.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs and mix in milk and butter.

Pour in milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well just to wet all the ingredients.

Spoon muffin mixture unto the prepared muffin trays up to half.  Spoon some cream cheese filling and cover again with the batter.   Fill the muffin cups to about 3/4 full only.

Bake for 20 minutes.  remove from oven and cool completely.

Should you have leftover cream cheese mixture, you can frost your muffins with it for additional yumminess!

Enjoy!