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These Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are perfect! So moist and fluffy! And they are an amazing copy of one my favorite cupcakes!
So I think I’ve mentioned it before, but in case I haven’t here’s my little secret: Even though I bake mostly from scratch these days, I grew up on box mixes and store bought cakes.
It’s true. I know there’s a camp of people who are totally box mix haters and then there’s a camp that’s all about them. I personally love them at times when I want something easy. And you will never convince me that Funfetti Cake with Rainbow Chip Icing isn’t the best cake ever. But I also love baking from scratch. I’ve always loved cake, but I loved it even more when I started having from-scratch cakes. There’s just so much variety and I love that.
That said, my favorite besides Funfetti was always a strawberry cake mix with cream cheese frosting. There’s just something about the strawberry cake mix flavor. I know some might think it’s artificial, but whatevs. I dig it.
So I set out to replicate the flavor of that cake mix, but from scratch. I’m pretty sure I hit the nail on the head. I’m in love with these cupcakes! I even put “love” on top of them. 🙂
The strawberry flavor in the cupcake comes from a mix of strawberry puree and strawberry extract. I love mixing the two. The extract makes the flavor a little stronger and more box-like in my opinion, while the puree adds a little of that real strawberry taste. Perfection.
And with the cute little chocolate “love” on top, these are perfect for sharing for Valentine’s Day.
To make the toppers, you just need a little bit of colored candy melts. I use the wilton ones, but if you have another brand you prefer that should be fine. They’re great because they come colored, are easy to melt and dry firmer than regular chocolate chips, which is ideal for a more delicate decoration like this one.
I did these free handed, but you could use a pattern if you prefer. You’ll just need a piping bag, icing tip with coupler (I used tip 4, but tip 3 would work too) and some parchment paper. Melt the chocolate, add it to your piping bag fitted with the icing tip and write out “love”. I also tossed a few sprinkles on, but you could leave those off if you prefer. There’s a similar method used for this red wine chocolate cake, so if you need some pictorial guidance, there are photos in that post you can check out.
Once they are dry, just press them into the frosting and you are done! Quick and easy! Not only are these strawberry cupcakes delicious, they are so darn cute!
Watch How To Make Them
You might also like:
Homemade Strawberry Cake
Strawberry Cheesecake Cookie Cups
Strawberry Moscato Layer Cake
Strawberry Brownie Cheesecake
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
Strawberry Cool Whip Cookies
Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 17 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are perfect! So moist and fluffy! And they are an amazing copy of one my favorite cupcakes!
Ingredients
STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES
- 3/4 cup (155g) sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (86g), room temperature
- 6 tbsp (90ml) sour cream
- 2 tsp strawberry extract
- 3 egg whites
- 1 1/4 cups (163g) all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp (75ml) milk
- 3 tbsp (45ml) strawberry puree
- 3–4 drops pink food color
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 8 oz (226g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 6 tbsp (86g) butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (460g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
TOPPERS
- 5 oz red Wilton Candy Melts
- sprinkles
ADDITIONAL TOOLS
- Piping bag
- Wilton #4 Icing tip
- Ateco #844 Icing tip
- Coupler
- Parchment paper
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.
2. Beat butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add sour cream and strawberry extract and mix until well combined.
4. Add egg whites in two batches, mixing until well combined.
5. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl, then combine milk and strawberry puree in another bowl.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until well combined. Add the milk mixture and mix until well combined. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
7. Stir in pink color.
8. Fill cupcake liners about halfway. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.
9. While cupcakes cool, make the frosting. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.
10. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
11. Add vanilla extract and remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
12. To make the toppers, melt candy melts in a small bowl according to package instructions.
13. Pour melted candy into your piping bag fitted with Wilton tip #3 and pipe “love” onto parchment paper. Add a few sprinkles, then allow to dry and firm.
14. Pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes using Ateco tip #844, then add toppers.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 45.3 g
- Sodium: 120 mg
- Fat: 18.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 55.6 g
- Protein: 4.1 g
- Cholesterol: 46.1 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
Just made these cute cupcakes for my tennis team. Very easy recipe! Your icing was yummy and just the right amount. I didn’t have strawberry extract so I just used vanilla. The candy melts were easy to work with and scripting the “love” was fun. I love decorating cupcakes. Thanks for your recipe. I know my team will love them!
I’m so glad you were happy with them!
Hi, not sure if anyone has already asked this but how long would you cook if making mini cupcakes?
Also, how do you make your strawberry purée? Could I substitute strawberry purée for strawberry jam? Sorry for all the Q’s just planning to make for my daughter’s 2nd birthday!! Thanks
Mini cupcakes would be around 7-10 minutes. Just pop some strawberries into a food processor or blender to get the purée. You could use jam. I personally prefer the flavor of fresh purée though. I hope you enjoy them!
Hi, does this cupcake recipe taste similar to your strawberry shortcake cake recipe??? The one with the two layers of cake and the layer of cheese cake in the middle. I love that cake recipe it’s so good and I want my cupcakes to taste the same as the bread in that cake! Thanks!
Yes, they are nearly the same recipe, just a cake vs cupcakes.
I usually don’t leave reviews but I feel it is necessary for these cupcakes. I made these for a friends birthday party and I was not sure how they would turn out as I have never made strawberry cupcakes homemade. Well… they were a hit! I should have doubled the recipe to make more! They were perfect. I made my buttercream recipe instead of cream cheese frosting and it was divine. I will definitely be making these again!
So glad you enjoyed them!
This recipe sounds amazing. I got an heart shaped cake pan (probably 8-9″ equivalent). Should I up the recipe or will this bake fine in the.pan the way it is? Thanks ????
It should be fine as is for a single layer.
Sounds great! Looking forward to trying this out. Wondering why the egg yolks are omitted? What would be the result/difference if they were included?
Many thanks, Sylvia
Hi Lindsay! Love your recipes! Love your website and LOVE your explanations and in-depth posts! You are SUPER!!
I was super thrilled to find this homemade recipe for strawberry cupcakes because I was still buying the
boxed strawberry cake (our only favorite of the boxed cake mixes)! I’ve been baking from scratch for the last couple years but never found a homemade strawberry cupcake recipe! So my concern is if there is any way to omit the purée? I know it would add an extra depth of flavor but unfortunately my son is allergic to actual strawberries! Thoughts?
Thanks so much Michelle! Glad you enjoy everything!
You can certainly replace the puree with water. If you’d like to up the strawberry factor, just add another 1/2 tsp or so of the extract.
Omg, I made these yesterday and it was a disaster. Then I could not find your website so I could see what I did wrong .
It all curdled. We were so excited to try these. Well it smelled so good baked them anyway. Not good too gritty but it’s because I messed up writing the recipe and mixing wrong. Just made them again and they are the best strawberry cupcakes ever. I fid find the extract at walmart too. Thank you
.
Glad to hear you were able to remake them and enjoyed them!
Another recipe I cant wait to try. Seems like strawberry is a favorite but hard to get it right between flavor and texture for some reason. My mouth is drooling to try these, I hope I can find the extract.
Nice decorations on them.
Was your dog eating that cake in the photos? He is adorable and mine would have gobbled that up. Lol. Sandee
what does it mean when it says to split egg whites in two batches?
Just to add them in two batches, rather than all at once, so that they incorporate into the batter more easily.
I made these for my niece’s first birthday party and they were a HUGE hit!! Such a wonderful recipe!!!
Hi there! I want to make these for my daughter’s 3rd birthday party next week. I wanted to know if the cupcake part is light, fluffy and moist or is it more of a dense consistency like pound cake. I made a strawberry cake recently and the cake was more dense.. I prefer the light and fluffy!
Thanks so much!
I would definitely call it more fluffy than dense, and definitely not as dense as pound cake. Just be sure to fully cream the butter and sugar – that’s where most mistakes are made I find.
Can this fit in a 9×13 pan
You’d want to double the recipe for a 9×13 pan.
Do you have to beat the egg whites before adding them to the batter?
You don’t have to.
Can I use raspberry extract instead of strawberry?
That should be fine. You would probably want to swap out the strawberry puree for raspberry puree as well.
This icing is extremely sweet and thick… Personally I don’t like the taste of store bought icing and it definitely tastes like one in the container.