Easy Strawberry Cupcake Recipe
This easy strawberry cupcake recipe comes together in under an hour and packs rich strawberry flavor in every bite without having to make a strawberry reduction. They're light, moist, filled with strawberry preserves, and topped with an even easier strawberry ermine frosting!
These cupcakes are perfect for Valentine's Day, just like my easy red velvet cupcakes! And they are especially perfect if you're looking for a strawberry cupcake recipe without strawberries!
Feeling extra? Instead of strawberry jam-filled cupcakes, try different fillings like lemon curd, chocolate fudge or easy blueberry compote to add another layer of flavor to wow guests!
Recipe Overview: Easy Strawberry Cupcake Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Easy Strawberry Cupcake Recipe
🕒 Ready In: 45 minutes
👪 Yield: 16 slices
🍽 Calories: 350 calories (estimated)
🥣 Main Ingredients: strawberry milk, flour, sugar, eggs, oil, butter.
👌 Difficulty: Easy - perfect for beginners!
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Why You'll Love These Homemade Strawberry Cupcakes
- It's easy! No need for a strawberry reduction, using strawberry milk ensures a creamy and balanced flavor in every bite. It also means you can make this strawberry cupcake recipe any time of year!
- Get creative with fillings! This recipe uses preserves as an easy strawberry filling for the cupcakes, but you can switch it up and fill them with chocolate ganache or even lemon curd for strawberry lemonade cupcakes!
- It's the perfect choice when you need pink cupcakes for a baby shower or a birthday party!
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Key Ingredients
Strawberry milk. Extracting strawberry flavor from fresh strawberries can be tedious - (trust me, my fresh strawberry cake is definitely a labor of love), extracts can have an overly "artificial" taste, and freeze-dried strawberries (at the quantity needed for this recipe) are expensive and have a tart flavor. Strawberry milk has a creamy and rich flavor that's perfect for this strawberry cupcake recipe and makes it easy. My favorite is Promise Land Dairy strawberry milk. I get it at my local grocery store.
Eggs. The eggs are separated, and then the egg whites are whipped. The whipped egg whites help with leavening and give the cupcakes a spongier texture.
Flour. Cake flour is used in the cupcakes for a softer and more tender crumb. All-purpose flour would yield dense cupcakes, but it is used in the ermine frosting to give it a sturdy, pipeable structure.
Oil. Makes the cupcakes super moist! Use a neutral-flavored oil like grapeseed or canola to avoid clashing with the strawberry flavor.
How to Make This Strawberry Cupcake Recipe
- Step 1: Mix all the ingredients except the egg whites and some of the sugar.
- Step 2: Whip the egg whites to soft peaks.
- Step 3: Fold the whipped egg whites into the batter.
- Step 4: Pour the batter into a lined cupcake pan and bake!
- Step 5: Make the roux base for the strawberry ermine frosting and let it cool.
- Step 6: Beat the roux base with the butter until smooth and fluffy.
- Step 7: Fill the cupcakes with strawberry preserves.
- Step 8: Top your homemade strawberry cupcakes with the strawberry buttercream and a strawberry garnish!
FAQs
The extended mixing time is important for the gluten to develop. This cake batter has a higher ratio of fat to flour, like my brown butter vanilla cupcakes, which means gluten formation is inhibited. Mixing for a full 2 minutes allows the batter to form structure, preventing the cupcake from sinking during baking or falling apart once picked up.
Any fat in the bowl or on your whisk will prevent the egg white from whipping to its full volume. Be sure to use a clean bowl and whisk, and dry them with a paper towel before use.
Also, be careful when separating your egg whites from the yolks. If any of the yolk gets in your egg whites, they won't whip to full volume, and properly whipped egg whites are crucial in this strawberry cupcake recipe since they help in rising.
A greasy ermine frosting usually occurs when the roux base is used while it is still warm. Be sure that the roux base has cooled completely before adding any butter. You can always put it in the freezer to speed up the cooling process, but set a time so you don't forget!
Fully assembled strawberry cupcakes with ermine frosting should be refrigerated after 2 hours at room temperature, since the frosting contains dairy. If you want to avoid refrigerating the cupcakes, you can make the strawberry cupcake recipe in advance, but wait to assemble everything until you're ready to serve.
Yes! You can make the strawberry ermine frosting up to 2 days before and store it in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Just beat it in a mixing bowl for 1-2 minutes before use so it pipes and spreads more easily.
Ainseanlea's Top Cupcake Tips
- Use an oven thermometer. I recommend one for all my cake and cupcake recipes, and temperature is crucial here. If the oven temperature is too low, the cupcakes won't rise enough, and if it's too high, they'll dry out and may rise too quickly, which could actually cause them to sink once removed from the oven.
- Use a kitchen scale for best results. It's more precise and avoids you adding too much flour, which will make these homemade strawberry cupcakes dense. If you insist on using measuring cups, "fluff" the flour in its container and then spoon it into the measuring cup and level with a straight edge.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Cold ingredients can prevent the batter from properly emulsifying properly resulting in a dense cake.
- Don't whip the egg whites past soft peaks. Soft peaks incorporate more easily into the batter than firm peaks, and with that reduced effort, you're less likely to deflate the egg whites.
- Get creative. Pair the strawberry cupcakes with fillings like lemon curd, pistachio cream, or chocolate fudge!
More Strawberry Recipes You'll Love!
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The Easiest Recipe for Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Set aside 2 tablespoons (you can estimate) of the granulated sugar. This will be used to help stabilize the egg whites later when whipped.110 grams granulated sugar
- In a large bowl, add all the rest of the granulated sugar, the cake flour, baking powder, and salt to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.120 grams cake flour, 110 grams granulated sugar, 1½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add the strawberry milk, oil, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and food coloring (if using) to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 2 full minutes.115 mL strawberry milk, 3 large eggs, separated, 60 mL neutral-flavored oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, red or pink food coloring
- In a separate medium bowl add the egg whites and whip on high speed until frothy. Once the egg whites are frothy, gradually sprinkle in the 2 tablespoons of sugar set aside earlier while continuing to whip on high speed. Whip until the egg whites reach soft peaks.3 large eggs, separated
- Gently fold in the whipped egg whites into the strawberry cupcake batter until completely incorporated.
- Pour the cupcake batter into a cupcake pan prepared with cupcake liners. Fill them about 80% of the way.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes at 375 °F or until the cupcakes spring back when pressed lightly.
- Make the frosting while the cupcakes cool.
- Make the roux base. Add the sugar, all-purpose flour & milk to a saucepan and whisk to remove any clumps. Whisk continuously over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and has a glue-like consistency.200 mL strawberry milk, 200 grams granulated sugar, 50 grams all-purpose flour
- Transfer the roux base to a heat-resistant bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate until completely cooled.
- Once the roux base has completely cooled, transfer it to a mixing bowl and whip at high speed for 2-4 minutes to aerate. It should be very pale, almost white.
- Add the unsalted butter 1-2 tablespoons at a time and add food coloring as desired. Continue beating at high speed until the last chunk of butter has been completely incorporated and the frosting is smooth and fluffy.285 grams unsalted butter, red or pink food coloring
- Transfer the ermine strawberry frosting to a piping bag with your favorite piping tip.
- Use a cupcake corer to remove a piece from the center of the cupcakes. Then fill with strawberry preserves. Replace a piece of the cupcake core on top to serve as a "cap."strawberry preserves
- Pipe the strawberry ermine buttercream onto the cupcakes in your desired styles and enjoy!
- Refrigerate leftover cupcakes in an airtight container for up to 3 days for optimal texture.
Nutrition
Notes
- If you opt for imperial measurements, spoon the flour into the measuring cups. This prevents packing the measuring cup and adding too much flour.
- Make sure the egg whites are whipped in a clean bowl and with a clean whisk free of any oil/grease. Also, ensure there are no egg yolks in the egg whites. Any fat will prevent the egg whites from whipping to full volume.
- Don't whip the egg whites past soft peaks. Soft peaks incorporate more easily into the batter than firm peaks, and with that reduced effort, you're less likely to deflate the egg whites.
