Strawberry Cupcakes

Published: Jun 13, 2019 · by Elizabeth Waterson · This post may contain affiliate links, which may pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Confessions of a Baking Queen!

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Deliciously soft and moist strawberry cupcakes are made with roasted and reduced strawberry puree for a natural strawberry flavor. Topped with a gorgeous strawberry cream cheese frosting these strawberry cupcakes are the perfect summer treat!

strawberry cupcakes on a pink background

Can I just say how pretty are these cupcakes?! Seriously the rich pink frosting just screams eat me, eat me! So beautiful!

These strawberry cupcakes are made all natural no artificial dyes here! The actual cake part of the cupcake is made with roasted strawberries that have been pureed and reduced down for a more concentrated flavor. The cake bakes to more of a light brown color, if you want the distinct pink color feel free to add a few drops of food dye. It doesn't bother me so I don't.

The frosting is my strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe, it is heavenly.

I had so much fun making these cupcakes and shooting them. I haven't made cupcakes in a lonnnnng time, luckily my friend Valentina over at The Baking Fairy was hosting a Cupcake Lovers Day Party, so I was forced to make some! What a rough life I live 😉

strawberry cupcakes topped with fresh strawberries on a wire rack

Let's get to the recipe.

What are the ingredients for Strawberry Cupcakes?

While you can chop up strawberries and put them into the cake batter I want more of a strawberry flavor, so I prefer to use a strawberry puree. I also love roasting strawberries (directions below).

Strawberries
Granulated Sugar
Salted Butter, at room temperature
Vegetable or Canola Oil
Granulated Sugar
Whole Egg + Large Egg Yolk
Pure Vanilla Extract
Cake Flour
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Buttermilk

1 Batch of Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

How do you roast strawberries?

Depending on the size of your strawberries I either cut them in half for smaller ones or slice them in thirds for larger berries. Place them on a baking sheet and drizzle granulated sugar on top, shake them around to evenly coat the berries.

Roast at 400F/ 204C for ten minutes then flip the berries and roast for an additional 10 minutes. Let cool for at least ten minutes before attempting to puree them.

sliced strawberries on a metal sheet pan

roasted strawberry pieces on a metal sheet pan

When cooled place roasted strawberries in a food processor or blender and blend until a smooth puree is formed. Now you could use this as it is now or you can reduce it to concentrate the flavor.

roasted strawberries in a small food processor bowl

roasted strawberries purred in a small plastic bowl

To reduce strawberry puree place it in a small pot over low-medium heat and cook it for 5-15 minutes, stirring frequently. A batch of 16oz roasted strawberries made about 9oz of Strawberry Puree and I reduced it down to 6oz.

reduced strawberry puree in a small glass bowl

Set aside in an airtight container before use. You can do this up to 3 days before you plan on making the strawberry cupcakes.

How do you make Strawberry Cupcakes?

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and line a cupcake tin with liners, set aside.

Combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

dry ingredients for strawberry cupcake recipe in a small glass bowl

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter for two minutes until light and fluffy. Add the vegetable oil, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure the butter and oil fully combine.

softened butter and oil in a metal mixing bowl

Once the oil and butter are fully combined add the granulated sugar and mix for 3 to 4 minutes.

granulated sugar added to butter for a strawberry cupcake recipe

butter and sugar mixture for a strawberry cupcake recipe

Once the butter and sugar are light and fluffy add the egg, mix until fully combined then add the yolk and vanilla extract.

egg added to sugar and butter mixture in a large metal bowl

Next, add the strawberry purée, making sure to scrape down the bowl so there are no white marks left.

strawberry puree added to butter mixture for strawberry cupcake recipe

Add half of the dry mixture, mix to combine, then add half of the buttermilk and repeat the process one more time. Make sure to not over mix the cupcake batter

wet ingredients in a large metal mixing bowl for a strawberry cupcake recipe

buttermilk added to strawberry cupcake batter in a large metal mixing bowl

Using a large cookie scoop fill each cupcake liner ⅔ of the way. If you overfill the cupcakes will spew over, it won't be cute! Bake the cupcakes for 14-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in comes out with no wet batter

strawberry cupcake batter in cupcake liners

Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

strawberry cupcakes baked and cooling on a wri

strawberry frosted strawberry cupcakes on a wire rack

You could use just about any frosting you want on top of these strawberry cupcakes. But I wanted to stick with the strawberry theme so I used my strawberry cream cheese frosting. It's made with freeze-dried strawberries, so the strawberry flavor is totally there!!

strawberry cream cheese frosting in a metal mixing bowl

If you want you can top the cupcakes with a small strawberry. The gorgeous pink frosting and fresh berry on top make these cupcakes irresistible!

wrapper coming off strawberry cupcake with more cupcakes behind

Craving more strawberry sweets? Try:

close up of a strawberry decorated strawberry cupcake on a wire rack

More strawberry recipes

Next time try making the recipe for chocolate cake with cream and strawberries. Or my strawberry cream cheese pie, its make ahead and absolutely scrumptious!

Please let me know if you make this Strawberry Cupcakes recipe by leaving a rating and review below!

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