Strawberry Cupcakes

These Strawberry Cupcakes are loaded with fresh strawberries and are so easy to make. The homemade strawberry sauce is used to make the cupcakes and the frosting. The pink color is all natural! 12 ingredients and less than 30 minutes of hands-on preparation time is all it needs to make these delicious strawberry treats. By the way, have you tried my caramel vanilla cupcakes?

Why this Recipe works: 

1. The cupcakes and the frosting are made with homemade fresh strawberry sauce.
2. It does not contain any artificial colors.
3. It's a straight-forward recipe with less than 30 minutes of prep time.
4. The cupcakes are soft and fluffy and the frosting light and creamy. Exactly how a perfect cupcake should be.
5. It's the perfect Spring recipe to honor strawberry season.

Photo tutorial

In a medium bowl, using an immersion blender, puree strawberries. Then press the fruit and the liquid through a mesh strainer into a heavy-bottomed pot and discard solids.

Note: The finer the mesh strainer, the fewer solids you have in the cupcakes. If you don't mind about the solids at all, you can skip this step.

Add sugar and lemon juice to the strawberries and cook over medium heat until reduced by half. You need 1 cup of strawberry sauce (240ml) for the recipe.

Tip: If you accidentally overcooked the sauce then whisk in some water that you get 1 cup.

Remove from the heat and transfer the strawberry sauce to two bowls equally (two times ½ cup) and let cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whisk butter, oil, and sugar on medium speed until creamy about 2 minutes. The color should be very bright as you can see in the picture below.

Add the egg, ½ cup of the cooked strawberry sauce, and vanilla. Stir until combined.

Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk. Start and end with dry ingredients. This works best when you add the dry ingredients in three additions and the buttermilk in two.

Tip: If you don't have buttermilk then replace with milk 1:1. Then remove ½ tablespoon of milk and add ½ tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to get ½ cup of liquid in total.

Fold in strawberries just until combined. You can see in the picture below that the batter is light and fluffy.

Spoon the cupcakes batter into a muffin pan lined with muffin liners about ⅔ to ¾ full. Then bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Let cool to room temperature before frosting.

Mix butter until soft and creamy. This works best with room temperature butter. The butter should look like in the picture below before you add the next ingredients.

Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until well combined and creamy.

Add the strawberry sauce and stir until smooth and creamy.

Tip: If the frosting is too thin add more powdered sugar - up to ½ cup. In this case, you may want to add a pinch of salt to cut down the sweetness. If the frosting is too firm add 1-2 tablespoon of whipping cream.

Transfer the frosting to a piping bag. Therefore place a piping bag fitted with a tip of your choice in a tall glass and pull about 4 inches (10cm) over the outside of the glass. Then spread about half of the frosting into the bag and close the bag by twisting the back of the bag.

Then frost the cupcakes to your preference.

Top tips for success

• The combination of oil and butter makes sure you get the best of both worlds. Fluffy texture from the oil and an incredible taste from the butter.
• Use room temperature butter for the cupcakes as well for the frosting. Room temperature butter incorporates better with the other ingredients than cold one.
• Don't fill your cupcake liners more than ¾ full to avoid spilling over or sinking cupcakes.
• Measure the flour correctly. Use a kitchen scale or spoon and level the flour in the measuring cup.

Substitutions

• Substitute buttermilk for milk 1:1. Then remove ½ tablespoon of milk and add ½ tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice.
• Do you want to make your Strawberry Cupcakes gluten-free? No problem. Substitute all-purpose flour for Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour 1:1.
• Also making them eggless is possible. Just substitute eggs for flax eggs 1:1.

Storage

These Strawberry Cupcakes stay fresh up to 3 days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Note: If you skip the chopped strawberries in the cupcakes you could further increase shelf live by 1-2 days.

Freezing

Strawberry Cupcakes are best eaten fresh. However, if you plan to freeze them, I suggest freezing the unfrosted cupcakes and making the frosting before serving. In this case, let the cupcakes cool completely. Then wrap them individually in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped cupcakes in freezer bags and remove as much air as possible. They freeze well up to 3 months.

To thaw, unwrap the cupcakes and place them on the counter. They need about 1-2 hours to come to room temperature. Then frost them and serve.

Note: Skip the chopped strawberries if you freeze the cupcakes. The strawberries would get mushy during the freezing and thawing process and would negatively impact the texture of the cupcakes.

More strawberry recipes to try

• Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
• Strawberry Brownies
• No-Bake Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie Recipe
• Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
• Strawberry Cake
• Chocolate Strawberry Pop Tarts
• Strawberry White Cake

Recipe

Strawberry Cupcakes

5 from 2 votes

Author Sabine Venier

Calories: 277kcal

Servings: 18 - 20 cupcakes

Prep 30 minutes

Cook 20 minutes

Total 50 minutes

Print Pin Rate

These Strawberry Cupcakes contain lots of fresh strawberries and are so easy to make. What you need? 12 ingredients and less than 30 minutes of hands-on preparation time.

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

homemade strawberry sauce

• ▢ 2 cups chopped strawberries (300g)
• ▢ 2 tablespoon granulated white sugar (25g)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15ml)

strawberry cupcakes

• ▢ 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (150g)
• ▢ 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter (56g)
• ▢ ¼ cup oil (60ml)
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated white sugar (150g)
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ½ cup homemade strawberry sauce (120ml)
• ▢ 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• ▢ ½ cup buttermilk (120ml)
• ▢ ½ cup chopped strawberries (75g)

strawberry frosting

• ▢ 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (226g)
• ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (240g)
• ▢ 2 vanilla beans (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• ▢ ½ cup homemade strawberry sauce (120ml)

Instructions

homemade strawberry sauce

• Blend strawberries with an immersion blender until smooth. Place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat and set a fine mesh strainer on top. Pour strawberries through the strainer into the saucepan. Press fruit and liquid through the strainer and discard solids. 
• Add sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil for about 5-10 minutes until it has thickened up and reduced by half. You need 1 cup of strawberry sauce in total. Transfer to two bowls equally (2x ½ cup) and let cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools.

strawberry cupcakes

• Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with about 18-20 cupcake liners. Set aside.
• Stir flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to combine. Set aside. 
• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high speed until creamy for about 2 minutes. 
• Add egg, ½ cup of homemade strawberry sauce, and vanilla* and mix just until combined. 
• Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the batter and mix on low speed just until combined. Begin and end with dry ingredients. Fold in chopped strawberries. 
• Spoon batter into the liners and fill max. ⅔ - ¾ full that your cupcakes don't sink or spill over the sides. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick centered in the middle comes out clean. Let cool to room temperature before frosting.

strawberry frosting

• In a large mixing bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, mix butter until creamy. 
• Add powdered sugar and vanilla* and mix until combined. Stir in ½ cup of homemade strawberry sauce until fully combined. 
• Pipe or spread frosting on top of cooled cupcakes. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. 

Notes

*First, cut off the straight end of the vanilla bean. Then place the tip of your sharp knife below the curled end and cut the vanilla bean through the middle of the bean lengthwise. Although you don't need to cut it all the way through, it's ok when you do so. Then open the vanilla bean and scrape out the flavorful seeds with the back of your knife. Just use the seeds.

 

BAKER'S TIPS:

• Use room temperature butter for the cupcakes as well for the frosting. Room temperature butter incorporates better with the other ingredients than cold one.
• Don't fill your cupcake liners more than ¾ full to avoid spilling over or sinking cupcakes.
• Measure the flour correctly. Use a kitchen scale or spoon and level the flour in the measuring cup.

 

Substitutions

Substitute buttermilk for milk 1:1. Then remove ½ tablespoon of milk and add ½ tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice.

Do you want to make your Strawberry Cupcakes gluten-free? No problem. Substitute all-purpose flour for Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour 1:1.

Also making them eggless is possible. Just substitute eggs for flax eggs 1:1.

Video

You can find the video in the post above. If you don't see a video, please check your browser settings.

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 1gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 79mgPotassium: 112mgSugar: 24gVitamin A: 420IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 42mgIron: 0.6mg

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword How to make Strawberry Cupcakes, Strawberry Cupcakes, Strawberry Cupcakes Recipe

Did you make this recipe?Leave a feedback and rate this recipe!