Strawberry Cupcakes

4 from 3 votes

These homemade strawberry cupcakes have a delicious strawberry flavor and creamy strawberry frosting. The flavor comes from real berries - so there's nothing artificial. The cupcakes have a light and delicate texture, and you'll love how the frosting is bursting with real strawberries.

Prep Time1

Cook Time20

Cooling2

Total Time3 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Strawberry Cupcakes

Servings: cupcakes

Author: Fiona Dowling

Equipment

12-cavity muffin pan

Ingredients

Strawberry Puree (for the cupcakes and frosting)

¾ lb strawberries (370 grams) fresh or frozen

Strawberry Cupcakes

1½ cups cake flour* (180 grams)
1½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup reduced strawberry puree (60 ml) it should be thick, like jam
6 tablespoons whole milk (90 ml) 2% works too
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 drops red food coloring optional
½ cup unsalted butter (112 grams) room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
2 large egg whites NOT the whole egg

Strawberry Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter (226 grams) softened but still slightly firm to the touch
3-4 cups powdered sugar (330 - 440 grams)
2-3 tablespoons reduced strawberry puree (30-45 ml)
¼ teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoons cream (15-30 ml) as needed
2-3 drops red food coloring optional

Instructions

Reduced Strawberry Puree

Core and haul the strawberries (if using fresh).
Place the berries in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
Pour the puree through a metal sifter to remove the seeds. Use the back of a spoon to press the puree through. Discard the seeds.
Transfer the puree to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil while stirring. As the mixture starts to thick, you will need to stir constantly to prevent burning. When finished, the puree should be thick like jam. You should have about ½ cup in volume. It should take about 25 minutes, or longer if using frozen berries. Cool fully before using. You will use this for both the cupcakes and the frosting.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃) and line muffin pans with muffin papers. You'll end up with about 12-14 cupcakes total.
In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk, ¼ cup reduced puree (save the rest for the frosting), vanilla extract and optional food coloring (I used about 2 drops of gel food coloring for the photos). You can use a hand-held emersion blender to get rid of any lumps of puree. If there are still some lumps - that's ok.
In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes).
Beat the egg whites into the butter mixture until smooth.
Beat about ⅓ of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, alternating with about ½ of the liquid ingredients. Repeat the process, until of the dry ingredients and wet ingredients have been incorporated. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. I recommend mixing in the liquid ingredients by hand with a wire whisk to avoid overmixing.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each muffin paper about ⅔ to ¾ full. You should end up with about 12-14 cupcakes in total.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are set and an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, before carefully transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Strawberry Frosting

In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter until fluffy (about 3 minutes).
Turn the mixer down to low speed and beat in 2 cups of powdered sugar, turning the mixer up to medium speed as you incorporate the sugar.
Beat in 2 tablespoons of the thick, jam-like strawberry puree and salt. **It must be completely cold before adding to the butter, otherwise, your frosting can separate and get watery.
Beat in the rest of the powdered sugar about ½ cup at a time, alternating with a little more strawberry puree or cream until the desired sweetness and thickness is reached.
Optionally, mix in the red food coloring.
Frost the cooled cupcakes with a knife, or transfer the frosting to a piping bag and pipe the cupcakes. (I used a 1M tip).

Notes

Strawberries: If using frozen, the process is easier if they're thawed first.
Cake Flour: Be sure you aren't using self-rising cake flour. If you don't have cake flour, use 1⅓ cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch.
Room Temperature Ingredients: The butter, milk and egg whites should be at room temperature for the best results. Take them out.
Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days. If your kitchen is warm, store in the fridge.
Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only based on 1 cupcake with frosting, assuming the recipe yields 12 uniform cupcakes and all the frosting is used. You may get up to 14 cupcakes

Nutrition