These strawberry cupcakes are tender and moist and made with fresh strawberries. They are topped with strawberry buttercream making this perfect for strawberry lovers. These make a perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day or any special occasion.
One of my favorite flavors of spring and summer is strawberry. These cupcakes are perfect for capturing their wonderful flavors without tasting artificial. They are made only with real strawberries. Serve these on your favorite holiday or for your friends and family and you are bound to have a hit. You might need to make two batches in case you don’t want to share with everyone else.
In this recipe
One of the keys to this recipe is the use of strawberries. Fresh or freeze dried they are going to be the main source of flavor.
Strawberries: you want to make sure they are ripe and fresh. Frozen strawberries will not work for this recipe as they can alter the texture of the cupcake.
Freeze dried strawberries: you can use a coffee grinder to turn these into powder if you cannot find freeze dried strawberry powder.
Buttermilk: this will help keep the cupcakes tender and flavorful.
Sour cream: will help keep the cupcakes soft and tender.
Making the batter for strawberry cupcakes
While making most cake and cupcake batters all follow a similar pattern there are couple of things to take not of with this one. Firstly, you will want to make sure that the butter starts turning a nice pale color. Next you will want to add the food color before adding the flour and milk. You want to make sure that it will mix evenly before adding the flour to prevent overmixing. Finally, add the strawberries last so that they still maintain their shape so when they are bitten into you get a hit of strawberry.
Cooling the cupcakes
It is important to make sure you properly cool the cupcakes before icing them. The first thing you want to do is to make sure that you allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them. This will help prevent the cupcakes from falling in the center. Then once they have started cooling you can transfer them to the cooling rack to cool completely. By doing so you will prevent the buttercream from melting and the cupcakes will hold their shape better.
Getting the buttercream ready
While the cupcakes are cooling this is the perfect time to get the buttercream ready to go. One of the first things is you want to beat the butter and salt until it is nice light. Reduce the speed to low and add the sugar and powered strawberries. You don’t want a nice cloud of sugar around your mixing bowl. Once the sugar is absorbed, crank that blender up as high as it can go so you can beat as much air into the buttercream as possible to get a night light topping for your cupcakes. Pipe onto the cupcakes and top with additional strawberry powder or sliced strawberries if desired.
Looking for other cupcake recipes?
Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
Equipment
- 2 12 cup muffin tin
- Cupcake liners
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment
- Mixing bowls
- Spatula
- Piping bag with decorative tip
- Whisk
- Cooling rack
- 3-tablepspoon scoop
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs large, room temperature
- 1 cup butter unsalted, softened
- 1 cup strawberries fresh, finely chopped
- ½ cup sour cream room temperature
- ½ cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 drops red food coloring optional
For the Strawberry Buttercream:
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter softened
- 1 tablespoon freeze dried strawberries ground about ¼ ounce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Making the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, 177°C or gas mark 4. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until evenly mixed and set aside. In a large measuring cup whisk the buttermilk and sour cream together and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on medium speed, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar, increase the speed and until the butter becomes light in color, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for a minute before adding the next, scraping the bowl between each egg. Then add in the vanilla and food coloring if you are using it.
- Reduce the speed to low, add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and allow to mix until just combined. Then add half of the milk mixture and mix until just combined. Repeat alternating the flour and milk. Mix in the chopped strawberries.
- Using a 3-tablespoon scoop spoon one scoop into each lined cup.
- Bake on the same rack for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Making the strawberry buttercream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and salt on medium-high speed until very pale in color, about 3-5 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to low and add the powdered sugar and freeze-dried strawberry powder. Mix until the sugar is combined and then increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.
- Place into a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip and pipe the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes. Top with additional freeze dried strawberry powder if desired or freshly sliced strawberries.
Nutrition
