Meet my new favorite: fresh strawberry cupcakes topped with strawberry buttercream. Is there anything more delightful than a perfect pink cupcake? My love for this recipe grew over several tries — it took around seven or eight attempts to get it just right.
You’ll find versions made with boxed white cake mix and strawberry Jell-O online, but those turned out dry and tough when I tried them. I wanted a from-scratch cupcake that uses fresh strawberries, with a texture that’s soft without being crumbly and moist without being soggy. Most importantly, I wanted intense strawberry flavor. After testing and tweaking, this recipe delivers exactly that.
These cupcakes get their strawberry punch from a combination of fresh strawberries and strawberry jam, and the frosting gets an extra boost from powdered freeze-dried strawberries. Because fresh fruit adds moisture, the jam and freeze-dried fruit help concentrate flavor without making the cake or buttercream soggy.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
The tender crumb comes from using sour cream and all-purpose flour. I tested milk, buttermilk and sour cream — sour cream gave the best crumb and moistness. I also tested cake flour versus all-purpose: cake flour made cakes that were too crumbly, while all-purpose produced light, stable cupcakes.
A small but helpful ingredient is butter vanilla bakery emulsion. Emulsions have a stronger, longer-lasting flavor than extracts and hold up well through baking. If you don’t have bakery emulsion, use vanilla extract, but the emulsion will give more pronounced flavor.
For best results, use room-temperature butter, egg and sour cream; if you’re short on time you can skip this, but room-temperature ingredients help the batter come together with the ideal texture. Measure ingredients before you begin so everything is ready when you need it.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Ingredients
This batter uses 2/3 cup finely diced strawberries — for very large berries, that might be only three. Toss the diced strawberries with two tablespoons of the flour to prevent them from sinking to the bottom during baking. Whisk the remaining flour with baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla emulsion (or extract). Add the dry ingredients and sour cream alternately in thirds, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix in the strawberry jam until the batter is uniform, then gently fold in the floured strawberry pieces by hand so they stay distributed without overmixing.
Portion the batter into liners so each cup is about two-thirds full. This recipe makes 15–16 cupcakes, so you may need two baking rounds. Bake at 350°F for about 22–24 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Prepping Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
While the cupcakes bake or cool, make the strawberry buttercream. Grind freeze-dried strawberries to a fine powder in a blender or food processor. Freeze-dried strawberries add concentrated, real strawberry flavor without adding moisture, which is important in buttercream. The frosting is based on a classic buttercream: beat softened butter until smooth, add powdered sugar in stages, then add heavy cream, vanilla emulsion (or extract) and salt. Add the strawberry powder with the final cup of powdered sugar and beat until the frosting is smooth, thick and fluffy.
Freeze Dried Strawberry Crisps
This recipe yields plenty of frosting, so choose piping tips accordingly: larger tips for bakery-style swirls, smaller tips if you prefer a lighter finish.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
These cupcakes are lovely for baby showers, bridal showers, Valentine’s Day, Easter, birthdays or any celebration that calls for cupcakes. They’re bright, flavorful and have a soft, tender crumb that holds up well under the rich strawberry buttercream.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 2/3 cup finely diced strawberries (about 1/4-inch dice)
- 1 3/4 cups (224 g) all-purpose flour, divided
- 1 1/4 teaspoons (5 g) baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (175 g) granulated sugar
- 1 stick (1/2 cup or 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 teaspoon (4 ml) butter vanilla bakery emulsion or vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (185 ml) sour cream
- 1/3 cup (110 g) strawberry jam
For the frosting:
- 1 cup (10–12 g) freeze-dried strawberries, ground to a fine powder
- 1 cup (235 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups (480 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) butter vanilla bakery emulsion or vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
Instructions
Make the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 12-well muffin pan with liners or spray with baking spray.
- Dice strawberries and toss with 2 tablespoons (15 g) of the flour to coat. Set aside.
- Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
- Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Add the egg and emulsion or extract; beat 2 minutes more until fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients and sour cream alternately in three additions, ending with the dry ingredients. Mix in the jam until combined.
- Fold in the floured diced strawberries by hand, distributing evenly.
- Divide batter among liners, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake 22–24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting:
- Grind the freeze-dried strawberries to a fine powder; you should have just under 1/4 cup.
- Beat softened butter in a mixer until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and beat until combined; repeat with a second cup.
- Add emulsion (or extract), heavy cream and salt; beat until combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding the strawberry powder with the final cup. Beat until frosting is smooth, thick and fluffy.
Notes
- Tossing the diced strawberries with a bit of flour prevents them from sinking in the batter.
- Freeze-dried strawberries add concentrated flavor to the buttercream without introducing moisture.
- Room-temperature ingredients help the batter come together with the ideal texture.
Nutrition (per cupcake with frosting)
Calories: 415 kcal | Carbohydrates: 46 g | Protein: 2 g | Fat: 25 g | Saturated Fat: 16 g | Cholesterol: 78 mg | Sodium: 120 mg | Fiber: 1 g | Sugar: 33 g
I hope you enjoy these fresh strawberry cupcakes. They’re a lovely, flavorful option for any celebration that calls for a pretty, tasty treat.