When life gives you strawberries

I received a boatload of strawberries from friends when Mom died. All of the local U-pick farms were offering strawberry picking at a time when the state was under a stay at home/ safe social distancing order and everyone who was looking for something to do with their kids went berry picking. Since I was the beneficiary of their kindness and largess I thought I might make something delicious to give back to them for the fruits of their labor.
I am one of those people who bake when stressed. I think it is because when I bake I am on auto pilot. I really don't have to think about anything, and just move through the motions of cooking with no thought of anything else.
Since I had a strawberry cake mix (lake house food salvage) I decided I would use it as the base for the cake but I wanted to incorporate the real berries in the mix.  Since I was going to share these with the 2 families who brought me the berries, cupcakes seemed to be an easier way to split them.

1 box strawberry cake mix
1/2 cup melted butter (takes about 1 cup solid butter)
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups strawberries, pureed then reduced to 1/2 cup
1/2 cup finely chopped strawberries
3 or 4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Puree the strawberries in a blender, then cook on a slow heat to reduce to 1/2 cup. Take out a tablespoon of the puree to use in the icing and add the rest to the mix. Next add the buttermilk and butter and mix until it is slightly blended than add the eggs one at a time until everything is blended and the batter is smooth.. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and scoop the batter filling just past halfway full. Bake until done (23 minutes in my oven), cool and then frost.

I made a traditional buttercream icing but I added the remaining pureed strawberries and 1/4 teaspoon strawberry extract to it.  I did not taste them since I made them as a thank you treat, but  the aroma was sublime. Both  families said they were delicious.

If you go berry picking and want something easy to make with a few of them, give this a try. I don't think you will be disappointed,