Strawberries & Cream Cupcake Recipe

by: Kate McMillan

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Category: Dessert

Summary:

This strawberries & cream cupcake recipe is such a fun dessert for spring or Easter, celebrating those first strawberries of the season in two ways. Fresh strawberries are folded into a delicious white cake batter. Freeze-dried strawberries are ground and stirred into a smooth buttercream frosting for a perfect pink finish.

Ingredients:

Cupcake Ingredients:  

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder  
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt  
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature  
• 1 cup granulated sugar  
• 3 large egg whites  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract  
• ½ cup whole milk  
• 10–12 fresh strawberries, hulled  

Buttercream Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature  
• 4 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar  
• ¼ cup whole milk  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract  
• 1 cup freeze-dried strawberries  

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a small Mixing Bowls, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a Mixers fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the egg whites and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture and milk in thirds, alternating dry and wet ingredients. Mix until combined, but don’t overmix.

Dice the fresh strawberries into very small cubes (about ⅛ inch). Using a Spatula, fold the fresh strawberries into the cupcake batter. Fill muffin cups just below the top of the cupcake liners. Transfer the cupcakes to the oven and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 20–22 minutes. Let cupcakes sit for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream frosting, place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat the butter until it is perfectly smooth. Add the confectioner’s sugar, milk and vanilla and beat on low until combined, then on high for 30 seconds.

Place the freeze-dried strawberries in the bowl of a food processors fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until the freeze-dried strawberries are a fine powder. Add the ground freeze-dried strawberries to the buttercream frosting and mix to combine.

When the cupcakes are completely cooled, frost generously with a small off set spatula.

Notes:

It is very important that your ingredients are at room temperature for both the cupcake batter and the buttercream frosting.

If you don’t have a food processor, put the freeze-dried strawberries in a sealed plastic bag and use a rolling pin to grind them.

If you can’t find freeze-dried strawberries, you can also use red food coloring to create pink frosting.

Do not frost cupcakes until they are completely cooled. Otherwise the frosting will melt.

The easiest way to frost a cupcake is to use a piping bag or an offset spatula.