Instructions

1. We started with fresh strawberries (you could also use frozen strawberries for this frosting recipe.)  Wash and pat dry your strawberries. The sweeter and riper the strawberries are the better the frosting will taste.
2. Remove the stems and rough chop the strawberries.
3. Place 1/2 cup of the chopped strawberries in a food processor and puree them (no water or sugar necessary.) 
4. You should end up with 1/4 cup of strawberry puree to flavor your frosting.
5. Add the butter and the strawberry puree to a mixing bowl.  The butter should be what we call "slightly softened" which is somewhere in between straight out of the refrigerator and room temperature.
6. Mix the butter and puree until they are completely combined (about 3 minutes.) Stop halfway through and scrape the butter/strawberry mixture off the mixing paddle and the sides of the bowl.
7. Measure 1 pound of Powdered Sugar.  If you don’t have a food scale, the equivalent is 4 cups.  Do you need to sift the Powdered Sugar? We don’t normally do that but instead rely on our mixer to break up any lumps during the mixing process.
8. Add the powdered sugar to the butter/strawberry mixture in the mixing bowl.
9. Start your mixer (or electric beater) on the lowest setting. Keep on low until the butter and sugar are incorporated (about 30 seconds) and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and mix for 30-45 more seconds until the frosting starts to be light and fluffy.
10. If the frosting is too thick at this point, add more strawberry puree.  Using the strawberry puree (versus milk & vanilla in regular Buttercream Frosting) makes the frosting a little looser but it will firm up in the refrigerator.  The strawberry flavor will deepen after sitting in the refrigerator overnight so this is a good frosting to make ahead and frost the next day.