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These Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes are moist, tender and totally addicting! There are pieces of chopped strawberry in the cupcake and they are topped with strawberry buttercream! So much flavor and perfect for spring and summer!
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
I have loads of strawberry-based desserts on this site and certainly no shortage of variations of strawberry cake and cupcakes. What I love about these though is that they are pretty straight forward with a one-bowl vanilla cupcake base and chunks of strawberries in the batter. There’s plenty of strawberry flavor from the chunks of berries and then they are topped with a delicious strawberry buttercream. These cupcakes are light, moist and full of flavor. I’m so in love!
This is actually the second time this recipe has been updated. The original version was posted way back when I first started this blog, in 2012. Then it was updated in 2014. And now it’s being updated again, only this time the recipe is basically the same.
There are a few little updates to the method for the cupcake to give you a smoother batter that’s easier to put together, plus a little more chopped strawberry. And then the strawberry buttercream now uses a reduced strawberry puree, rather than just a regular strawberry puree, to give you that extra strawberry flavor. But overall the cupcake is the same. Despite being about 7 years old, it’s still delicious and just as wonderful now as when I originally shared it. Love it!
Recipe Ingredients
For the Strawberry Cupcakes
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking powder and Baking Soda: The combination of the two gives this cupcake the ultimate texture.
- Salt: For flavor.
- Butter: Unsalted and melted, since this recipe doesn’t cream the butter.
- Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs: Large sized eggs.
- Sour Cream: Not only does sour cream add moisture, it also helps to keep the batter thick enough so that the strawberries don’t all sink to the bottom of your cupcakes.
- Milk
- Chopped Strawberries: One and half cups of chopped strawberries for cupcakes that are loaded with flavor!
For the Strawberry Buttercream
- Strawberries: You’ll need about 1 1/2 cups of chopped strawberries, measured after chopping.
- Unsalted Butter: Control the amount of salt in your buttercream by adding it yourself. Butter should be room temperature.
- Powdered Sugar: For volume and thickness.
- Vanilla Extract: For flavor.
- Salt: To taste
How to Make Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
These cupcakes are quite simple to make. I LOVE that they use only one bowl for the cupcake batter! Unlike my typical cupcake recipes, there’s no creaming involved, so they are super quick to make.
Make the Strawberry Cupcakes
- Prepare for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Combine Butter, Sugar and Vanilla: In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract together until well combined.
- Add Eggs, Sour Cream and Milk: Add the eggs, sour cream and milk one at a time, mixing well after adding each. Adding them one at a time ensures they all incorporate nicely, without giving you a lumpy batter.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Add the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined, but do not over mix. You want the batter to be evenly mixed and smooth, but don’t over do it or you could end up with tough cupcakes.
- Stir in Strawberries: Fold in the chopped strawberries gently. You don’t want to beat up your strawberries or over mix the batter.
- Bake: Fill the cupcake liners a little more than half full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make the Strawberry Buttercream
- Make the strawberry reduction: Using a strawberry reduction doubles up the strawberry flavor. To make it, you’ll puree your strawberries, then cook them down by half. So after pureeing your strawberries, you should have about 3/4 cup of puree. Add the puree to a small sized saucepan and cook over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a slow boil, stirring consistently to keep it from burning, until it has thickened and reduced to about 6 tbsp, about 10-15 minutes. To measure, pour the puree into a measuring cup. If it’s more than 6 tbsp (between 1/4 and 1/2 cup), add it back to the pan and continue cooking. Set aside to cool when it’s done.
- Beat Butter: Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
- Add Powdered Sugar: Carefully add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add Strawberry Reduction, Vanilla and Salt: Add 4 tablespoons of the strawberry reduction, vanilla extract and the salt to the frosting and mix until well combined.
- Finish Powdered Sugar: Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Get the Right Consistency: Add additional strawberry reduction as needed to get the right consistency and flavor.
Assemble the Cupcakes
- Pipe the Frosting: Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844.
- Garnish: Decorate with a strawberry half, if desired.
More Great Strawberry Recipes
Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
Homemade Strawberry Cake
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake
Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake Cake
Strawberry Crunchy Layer Cake
Watch How To Make Them
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 14-16 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes are moist, tender and totally addicting! There are pieces of chopped strawberry in the cupcake and they are topped with strawberry buttercream! So much flavor and perfect for spring and summer!
Ingredients
CUPCAKES
- 1 2/3 cups (217g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup (207g) sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (115g) sour cream
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) chopped strawberries
FROSTING
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) chopped strawberries
- 1 1/4 cups (280g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 cups (575g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch or two of salt
- Strawberries, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract together until well combined.
- Add the eggs and whisk together until well combined.
- Add the sour cream and whisk together until well combined.
- Add the milk and whisk together until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and whisk together until combined, but do not over mix.
- Fold in the chopped strawberries.
- Fill the cupcake liners a little more than half full and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove cupcakes from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.
- To make the strawberry buttercream, make the strawberry reduction. Add the strawberries to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. You should have about 3/4 cups of puree.
- Add the puree to a small sized saucepan and cook over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a slow boil, stirring consistently to keep it from burning, until it has thickened and reduced to about 6 tbsp, about 10-15 minutes. To measure, pour the puree into a measuring cup. If it’s more than 6 tbsp (between 1/4 and 1/2 cup), add it back to the pan and continue cooking.
- When the puree has thickened and reduced, pour into a large measuring cup and allow to cool to at least room temperature. This strawberry mixture can be made ahead, if you like, and stored in the fridge.
- Add the butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until smooth.
- Carefully add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth and well combined.
- Add 4 tablespoons of the strawberry reduction, vanilla extract and the salt to the frosting and mix until well combined.
- Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional strawberry reduction as needed to get the right consistency and flavor.
- Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I used Ateco tip 844. Decorate with a strawberry half, if desired.
- Cupcakes are best when stored well covered in the fridge for 2-3 days. Serve at room temperature
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 275
- Sugar: 26.3 g
- Sodium: 100.8 mg
- Fat: 15.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 42.6 mg
Filed Under:
Enjoy!
These are amazing. Perfect flavor and consistency. I didn’t have enough strawberries to make the reduction for the frosting , so I used a few heaping tablespoons of strawberry fruit spread instead, which worked really well.
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed them!
Could I substitute high quality strawberry jam for the reduction if I’m short on time?
I don’t care as much for the flavor of jam usually but you could.
Looking forward to trying this recipe! How far in advance can I make the strawberry puree reduction? Can it be put in the fridge for 1 day?
Yes, it’ll be fine being made a day or so ahead.
The cupcakes are great, however, 5 cups of powder sugar is WAY too sweet and overpowering. I had a closer to 1/2 cup of the reduction and used it all. I wish I made the frosting like I traditionally do and that way the strawberry flavor would come through. Ultimately I only frosted a few cupcakes.
How much cream should I add if using freeze dried strawberries?
What’s the difference between the cake recipe and the cup cake recipe for the strawberry cake/cupcake
Which recipe are you referring to? My homemade strawberry cake is totally different – it uses reduced strawberry puree, not strawberry chunks.
You’d want to replace the strawberry puree, so about 4-6 tbsp.
Can I use the batter for a layer cake instead of cupcakes? I made this recipe before and it was astoundingly delicious, and would love to make a different variation on it.
I don’t think I’ve tried it is a layer cake, but it should be fine.
thinking about making these for my birthday could i use freeze dried strawberries insted of diced ones? i’m just not a fan of the strawberry texture!
Freeze dried strawberries are likely going to end up chewy. I wouldn’t recommend them in the cupcakes themselves. You can use them for the frosting though. Here’s my strawberry frosting recipe that shows how to use puree or freeze dried strawberries.
I love this recipe. They were the yummiest. I was wondering if I could make these cupcakes a few days ahead of time and freeze them then icing them the day I want to serve them?
So glad you enjoyed them! I typically make things the day before, and you could stretch it to two days but three may be a little too much.
Can you substitute the milk with buttermilk? Also I just made these and they seemed heavy .
I haven’t tried it be able to say for sure.
I made these for someone else. I wasn’t into the idea of strawberry … and oh, my! I have been flipped. The flavor in these is amazing! Unfortunately, I made the decision to add the remaining tablespoon of the reduction from the frosting (which I made first) into the batter, then forgot to reduce the milk, so my batter was too wet and didn’t rise well … but still, delicious!
So glad you enjoyed them!
My Easter guests gave these cupcakes a rave review! I also made a gluten free version. I will make these again. Fantastic!
These look perfect for my daughters Berry First Birthday party! Do you think i could use frozen strawberries?? Definitely not strawberry season in new York yet!
Frozen strawberries just tend to be more mushy and hard to cut. Other than that they would probably be fine.
These were much denser than i expected and not very sweet. The frosting was good but I wouldn’t use this Cupcake recipe again. My daughter said they tasted more like cornbread than cake.
There’s always the possibility that the batter was over mixed and made the cupcakes more dense than they should be. Overall these cupcakes really are pretty light. Definitely a favorite for me, so it makes me wonder a bit. Did you reduce the sugar at all? That affects the texture of the cupcakes. That said, they aren’t as light as some cupcakes and wouldn’t be able to be because they have to be dense enough to keep the fruit suspended. If they are too fluffy, the fruit will all just sink to the bottom.
Although I have not made the cupcakes (plan to tomorrow) A great big thank you for putting the recipe in grams! Saved me conversation time. Baking is so much more accurate using a simple kitchen scale!
Wonderful! I hope you enjoy them!
These cupcakes are so delicious and so beautiful! I and my family were absolutely delighted, and I will be making them again and again! I’ll try the same recipe with some other fruits as well, like blueberries. I put half of the cupcakes and icing in the freezer and that worked perfectly – I pull out a few at a time to thaw and they are great. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Theses cupcakes are amazing! I thought it was gonna be a difficult recipe but it was actually pretty easy and they came out so good everyone loved them!
So glad you enjoyed them!
Can you do any element a day before a bday party for instance?
Sure! The frosting can be made a day ahead and stored in the fridge. Just let it come back to room temperature before using and give it a good stir. You could also make the cupcakes a day ahead and store them in an air tight container in the fridge.