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–+ servings
three pink strawberry cupcakes topped with strawberry frosting and fresh whole strawberry
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5 from 3 votes

Strawberry Cupcakes

Moist, real strawberry cupcakes flavored with real strawberry, topped with a real strawberry buttercream frosting and finished with a fresh strawberry on top.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Decorating5 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cupcakes recipes, fruit desserts, strawberry
Servings: 24
Calories: 199kcal
Author: Erin
Cost: $6

Equipment

  • Oven

Ingredients

Strawberry Flavoring

  • 2 pounds strawberries fresh or frozen
  • ¼ cup water

Cupcake Batter

  • 2 ¾ cups all purpose or cake flour
  • 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks softened butter
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 egg whitese
  • ⅓ cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • plus ¾ of the strawberry puree reduction "flavoring" from above

Strawberry Frosting

  • 1 stick softened butter
  • 2 ¾ cups powdered sugar
  • Plus ¼ of the strawberry puree reduction "flavoring" from above
  • Additional fresh strawberries for topping optional.

Instructions

  • Place thawed strawberries and water in food processor or other blender and blend until smooth.
  • Heat on stove at a medium high simmer for 10-20 minutes until reduced by half; set aside in the fridge to cool. Once cooled, separate into a 25/75 ratio. It should come out to roughly 2 cups. (So for 2 cups of strawberry reduction separate ½ cup from the other 1 ½ cups.)
  • Be sure to cool strawberry reduction COMPLETELY.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Prepare the cake batter base by combining the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
  • Add to that the softened sticks of butter, oil, egg whites, vanillaand sour cream and mix until evenly combined (batter will be thick.)
  • Fold in 75% (about a 1 ½ cups) of the strawberry puree reduction.
  • Fill lined muffin tin and bake for 24-32 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cool.
  • Cream together the butter and powdered sugar for the frosting and beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 25% of the cooled strawberry puree reduction (about ½ cup)
  • Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.
  • Top with a fresh strawberry (optional).

Notes

  1. The strawberry puree reduction MUST BE COMPLETELY COOLED before folding into the cake batter or frosting ingredients.
  2. Make sure to reduce the pureed strawberries by half. This means that it should be half the level that it was in the pot prior to simmering. 
  3. Divide the final reduced strawberry puree (flavoring) by removing 25% from the final amount. This is roughly a ½ cup portion, and a 1 ½ cup portion for a 2 cup reduced puree. (Or a 25/75 split, whatever's easiest to envision.)
  4. Soften butter completely at room temp (don't attempt to melt it).
  5. Garnish with a fresh strawberry if desired. (Highly recommend, because it's cute, and also shows off the fact that the cupcakes are flavored with real strawberry.)

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 199kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 200mg | Potassium: 78mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 24IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 1mg