These strawberry cupcakes are pretty and taste amazing too.
The cupcakes are flavoured with freeze-dried strawberries, filled with strawberry jam, topped with homemade fresh strawberry buttercream and finished off with fresh strawberries. The ultimate summer cupcake!
It is hard to beat the simple deliciousness of a bowl of fresh strawberries and cream bringing a fantastic pop of colour, amazing flavour, and wonderful aroma to the table. But when they are at their best and most plentiful it'd be churlish not to use them in a strawberry recipe or two as well.
And if these fabulous cupcakes are not enough to inspire you then you could always out my post 30+ sensational strawberry recipes which is a collection of strawberry recipes from myself and around the net.
The sponge in these cupcakes is given an additional burst of strawberry flavour by the addition of freeze-dried strawberries just in case there isn't enough fruitiness from the jam and frosting. They're perfect for anyone who loves this popular summer berry as I'm sure you couldn't get any more strawberry yumminess into a cupcake if you tried.
Strawberry Jam Filling
You can just top the cupcakes with the strawberry buttercream but I think it is always nice to have a little surprise filling as well. In this case, a spoonful of strawberry jam does the job perfectly.
Choose a good jam or better still make it yourself. Try my strawberry jam made easy over on my other blog Recipes Made Easy
Fresh strawberry buttercream
But it is the fresh strawberry buttercream that really makes these cupcakes special. None of that artificial strawberry flavour here!
I just love this frosting. It's super pretty with a delicate pink hue, perfect for topping or filling a host of different cakes both large and small.
Now I must admit in the past when in a hurry I've made fruit flavoured frostings simply by adding jam to the traditional mixture of butter and icing sugar (confectioner's sugar), and although this method is easy and tasty its obvious drawback is that jam makes the already sweet icing even sweeter.
But by using a concentrated fruit puree, which once cooled can then be beaten into a basic buttercream frosting, you get all the fresh fruity flavour you want without it resulting in an overly sweet frosting.
How long will the cupcakes keep?
Because these are made with fresh fruit I would not keep these cupcakes for more than a day or two. But they are unlikely to be around that long anyway!
Store in an airtight container in a cool place or even the refrigerator. Just remember to bring them up to a cool room temperature before serving for the flavour to be at its best.
They can also be frozen without the strawberry on top for up to 1 month.
📖 Recipe
Strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry buttercream
Equipment
- muffin tin
- cupcake cases
- food processor, goblet blender or stick blender
- piping bag
- star nozzle
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes
- 125 g (4oz) butter, softened
- 125 g (4oz) golden caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon freeze-dried strawberries
- 125 g (4oz) self-raising flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon milk
For the Strawberry Frosting
- 125 g (4oz) fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
- 150 g (5oz) butter
- 350 g (12oz) icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
To complete
- 2 tablespoon strawberry jam
- fresh strawberries, to decorate
Instructions
To make the cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 190℃ (170℃ fan)/375°F/gas mark 5. Place the cupcake cases into the muffin tray.
- Beat 125g (4oz) butter and 125g (4oz) sugar until very pale and fluffy. Beat in ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Gradually add 2 beaten eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sprinkle over 1 teaspoon freeze dried strawberries then sift in 125g (4oz) flour and fold in using a spatula or large metal spoon. Add 1 tablespoon milk and mix in.
- Divide the cake batter equally between 6 cupcake cases filling about ⅔ full. Bake in the centre of the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until risen, golden and springy to the touch.
- Transfer from the muffin tin to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
To make the strawberry frosting
- Blitz 125g (4oz) strawberries to a purée in a blender, then push the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the seeds intro a small saucepan.
- Place the pan over a low heat and gently cook the puree stirring it frequently to avoid it catching until it has thickened and has reduced by about a half. Set aside to cool.
- Beat 150g (5oz) butter until creamy. Then sift in about half of the 350g (12oz) icing sugar. Beat with a wooden spoon to combine.
- Sift in the remaining icing sugar and beat to combine. Add 3 - 4 tablespoon of the cooled strawberry puree. Beat well until streak free, soft and creamy.
To complete
- Using a small knife cut out a hollow in the top of the cupcake. Add a teaspoon of the strawberry jam to each cupcake. Avoid over filling. Cut off a little of the sponge that was removed from the cupcake and use the crust piece to plug in the filling.
- Pipe a generous swirl of the strawberry buttercream on top of the cupcakes and top with a half strawberry to decorate.
Video
Notes
No time to bake now! - Pin for later
midge @ Peachicks' Bakery says
They are so so pretty! Perfect for the summer too! #Bakingcrumbs
Kat BakingExplorer says
They are so adorably pretty!
Corina Blum says
These look absolutely gorgeous! We picked some fresh strawberries the other day and these would be a lovely recipe to make with them. Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!