These Strawberry Cupcakes are made with real strawberries! They are topped with a creamy Strawberry Frosting and are perfect for any summer birthday, party or baby shower with their pretty pink hue. Recipe includes a full STEP BY STEP recipe VIDEO.
Be still my strawberry-loving heart.
These strawberry cupcakes, you guys… they are so good!
I based this strawberry cupcake recipe off of these Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes from the Sprinkles cookbook (<– you need it!), because if anybody knows cupcakes, it’s the Sprinkles bakery.
We experienced a Sprinkles cupcake first in 2016 on our trip to Florida, and I’m hooked. They are so moist and perfect, and it’s obvious from the cookbook that a lot of thought goes into the ingredients and technique.
I added some extra strawberries and the flavour is still mild (but delicious!), so if you are looking for an intense strawberry flavour try some of my tips below.
That being said, the recipes are also easy and not fussy, and totally doable for any home cook. (Even a home cook with a baby on her hip or preschoolers who like to “help” 😉 ).
Strawberry season has not reached us here in Manitoba yet — we have maybe another month or so of anticipation but I know it’s always worth the wait. There’s nothing like fresh, local strawberries and I can’t wait to make these again with the real deal.
I know that my Southern friends are already well into the season, so I’m stocking up on strawberry recipes for all of us!
How to make Strawberry Cupcakes:
- For these cupcakes, fresh or frozen strawberries will work perfectly, which makes them great for enjoying year round.
- If you are using frozen strawberries, be sure to thaw them before pureeing, then proceed with the recipe.
- I have updated the recipe since the original to add in ¼ cup strawberry jam — I find it gives an extra boost of strawberry flavor that we love! (There are 2 changes that aren’t in the original video: the jam, and the butter being melted, which makes it easy to whip these up with just a whisk!)
Tips for making Strawberry Frosting:
For this recipe, I chose to make a Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream, because it is my favorite frosting of all-time. There’s just nothing that comes close in flavour or texture.
It’s sweet, but not overly sweet, and it’s light and fluffy and creamy without ever being gritty or heavy. If you haven’t tried it, you need to!
If you don’t have egg whites or you’re not feeling that adventurous — swiss meringue buttercream is a bit tricky and more time consuming! — you can make a simple buttercream or whipped cream instead, or try the cream cheese frosting on my Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes. They will still be delicious!
Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
Strawberry Cupcakes
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (melted)
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- 300 grams fresh or frozen strawberries, pureed (*see note) (1 cup strawberry puree)
- ¼ cup strawberry jam
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all purpose flour (190g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Strawberry Frosting
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
- 2 egg whites (or ¼ cup liquid egg whites)
- ¾ cup salted butter, cubed (1 ½ sticks)
- 100 grams fresh strawberries, pureed (½ cup strawberry puree)
- ¼ cup powdered icing sugar
Instructions
Strawberry Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line one muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, oil and sugar until completely combined.
- Add strawberry puree, jam, eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt and stir just until combined.
- Divide cake batter between 12 muffin cups and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool.
Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Add 1″ of water to a small pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- In a medium-large glass bowl (you’ll need one that fits over top of the pot but does not touch the water), add the sugar and egg whites and whisk to combine.
- Place bowl over simmering water. Whisk and heat for about 15 minutes, or until mixture reaches 160 degrees F and the sugar is completely dissolved (if you don't have a thermometer, dab a small amount on your fingers and be sure there are no sugar granules remaining).
- Remove bowl from the pot and beat egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form (this can take up to 15 minutes, so a stand mixer helps!) and the meringue comes down to room temperature.
- Add the butter, one cube at a time, beating each until smooth as you go. Add the strawberry puree and beat until smooth (it might start to look funny and clumpy at this point — keep going! It will whip up nice and smooth).
- Add powdered sugar to taste until the frosting reaches your desired sweetness.
- Frost cupcakes and decorate as desired. Store in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Notes
- Strawberry puree (in the frosting): you can also use strawberry jam here
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream: this is my favorite frosting for its light flavor (not too sweet!) and the way it holds when it is piped. It is, however, a little tricky to make and takes some time. You can swap this for a traditional buttercream frosting or strawberry whipped cream if you want to save some time. If the frosting is firm when chilled, let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
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Jade says
Hi, I’m Jade and me and my teammates made this recipe for our final project and we must of done something wrong because it turned out BAD. We followed the recipe to the letter (other than doubling it) and when they came out the had sunken so bad they looked like edible cupcake liners!!!!!! We liv in Idaho falls idaho so did that affect it? We might have failed our assignment because of that so can you tell me what the heck happened please.
P.S. I am not mad at you, I just really do not want to fail this class!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Jade! It sounds like when you doubled the recipe one of the ingredients may have been doubled incorrectly.