Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
Hello friends!! I’ve been a bad blogger this summer and haven’t shared any new recipes with you since June. Even though I made these fresh strawberry cupcakes weeks ago for a summer outing, I didn’t get around to sharing them.
See my life has been hectic lately. Why didn’t someone warn me about the transition from 1 to 2 kids?? I thought after doing it once, I’d get the hang of it but having two kids is a whole new ball game and man is it busy! Add in several trips including an epic one to Greece (I’ll share more on this), family celebrations and house guests, I’ve had zero time to create, photograph and share new recipes with you. The blog always gets deprioritized in these seasons of balancing the act of a working mom. I apologize and I hope you are too busy enjoying your summer to notice. And if you did notice, I hope you were able to find new-to-you recipes in my extensive summer recipe archive.
Talking about summer, is there anything better than fresh strawberries in the summer? I was unable to go strawberry picking this year but I grabbed a few pounds from local stands to be able to enjoy them at their peak. Of course, I had to bake a few treats. I made my go-to mixed berry pie but had a request for strawberry cupcakes for an event. I have a few strawberry cakes from a few years ago that are great but I wanted an update that would work easily for cupcakes and packed in more strawberries.
These fresh strawberry cupcakes have fresh strawberry puree AND chopped strawberries in the batter. So you get a healthy dose of strawberry flavor in a very light and moist cake. It is topped with a sweet strawberry frosting that complements the cupcakes. If you are looking for a true strawberry cupcake recipe, this one is for you!! It’s what summer dreams are made of.
I hope you are having a great summer and checking off things on your summer bucket list. I have one month to go on mine and I intend to start now 🙂
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting
These fresh strawberry cupcakes are packed with strawberry flavor with fresh strawberry puree and strawberry chunks in the cake! Topped with strawberry frosting, it is what summer is made of!
Ingredients
For Strawberry Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- food coloring (optional)
- 3/4 cup diced strawberries
For the Strawberry Frosting:
- 1/2 cup strawberry puree
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- food coloring (optional)
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- In the bowl of a food processor, puree the strawberries. You should have about 1/3 cup of puree. If you have less, add some more strawberries. If you have more, save it for the frosting.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, sift (please do!) together with the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large mixing cup, whisk together the 1/3 cup strawberry puree and buttermilk.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together over medium speed until light and creamy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.
- Beat in the vanilla extract. If you are using food coloring, add in 3-4 drops of food coloring.
- Reduce speed to low. Alternately add in the flour and buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Mix well after each addition.
- Fold in the diced strawberries into the batter.
- Divide batter into prepared cupcake liners.
- Bake cupcakes for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For the Frosting:
- In a medium saucepan, cook down the strawberry puree over low heat, stirring occasionally until it reduces to about a 1/4 cup. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light and creamy, about 3 minutes.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients, including the 1/4 cup cooled strawberry puree. Mix on low until combined, then increase speed to medium and beat the frosting for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in food coloring if using.
- Using Wilton Tip 1M or your favorite decorating tip, frost the cooled cupcakes. Top with fresh strawberries and enjoy. Store leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container.
Notes
- You can bake this recipe in two 8-inch round cake pans. Be sure to adjust the baking time.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
These were great! For whatever reason, it was difficult for me to find a recipe that used butter and buttermilk – which are two ingredients I use for all my cakes. The amount of puree is perfect – just enough so that the cupcakes aren’t soggy. I didn’t make the buttercream frosting since we are a whipped cream family.
So glad to hear Christie!! I love the whipped cream topping you did.
Would this cake go good with a strawberry filling or would it be too much strawberry?
I think it would go good with it 🙂
Hi! So excited to try this recipe! How is the time adjusted for the 2 8 inch pans? Thank you!
Hello, I would start with 20 minutes and add more time as needed. It usually takes about 24-25 minutes for me but it all depends on your oven and if the indicated oven temp is the actual temp.
Hi, any substitute for buttermilk? I have everything but that and would love to try this recipe for Father’s Day this year. Thanks
absolutely! you can make your own buttermilk by adding lemon juice to regular milk and letting it sit. 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.
Hi,
Your strawberry cupcakes looks amazing! Will it be possible to get the recipe in grams please! 😁
Thank you
Christy
Hi Christy, I am so sorry I don’t usually do recipes in grams. When I find recipes that are in grams and not in cups, I just convert it through Google. Maybe you could try? If not, I know my friend Amanda Faber over on her website https://www.amandaefaber.com/blog shares lots of recipes on grams. She may have a strawberry cupcake recipe that may work for you. I hope that helps!
You’ve done SO much better at this blogging after babies thing than me so I think you’re a total rockstar! And these cupcakes are so so pretty and would be a hit at my house!
Aww thank you, dear! It is hard but I am slowly getting back into it.