This cupcake recipe makes soft, tender and moist strawberry cupcakes packed with fresh strawberry flavor and topped with a whipped cream frosting that is absolutely fantastic. The best part is these cupcakes have no artificial colors or flavors. Just pure, fresh strawberry in every bite. There’s something really special about a great cupcake. Maybe it’s the swirl of frosting that adorns the dainty, delicious cakes or the simple nostalgia of knowing it was made with love. Either way, little fancy cupcakes are one of my favorite desserts in the world. This time of year, when I bake, I love to bake with fresh seasonal fruit and while living in England, nothing says British Summer like Strawberries.
Why this recipe works:
Pureeing and cooking down the strawberries instead of adding chopped strawberries adds flavor without worrying about the wet, weighed down cake you often get from fresh fruit in the cake. The reduced strawberries add a lovely pink color to the cake without artificial food dyes. The fresh whipped cream is the perfect match to the fresh strawberry flavor in the cake – what could be better than Strawberries and Cream?
Before I go into how to make the cupcakes, I just have to stress how unbelievably delicious this whipped cream frosting is! It is fresh, creamy and oh so scrumptious! I’m telling you that once you try it, it will become a favorite you use time and time again. I’ve used the whipped cream in countless recipes on this site. To name a few, it’s used with my Vanilla Cream Sponge Cake, Banoffee Pie, Dark Chocolate Cream Horns, and many more. It’s a family favorite!
Here’s how to make the cupcakes:
Clean and hull the strawberries and add them to a food processor. Puree until fully broken down. Place a strainer over a saucepan and strain the seeds from the puree. Bring juice to boil over medium-high heat and cook (stirring occasionally), until reduced to 1/2 cup of syrupy liquid. Set aside to cool while preparing the ingredients for the cake. Start the cake by creaming the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the milk and strawberry reduction.
Beat until smooth. Add the eggs. Followed by the vanilla and mix until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix until just combined being careful not to over mix. Using an ice cream scoop (to ensure uniform cupcake sizes), add the batter to the cupcake papers in the pan.
Bake. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
To make the whipped cream:
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor (or mixer).
Whip using the regular blade attachment until thick (you’ll see ripples form in the thick cream).
You’ll know it’s done when you can run a spoon through it and the cream doesn’t collapse into the crevice formed. You’ll also be able to lift the blade with the cream on it without the cream falling off when tilted.
Once the cupcakes are cooled, swirl on the whipped cream frosting. This frosting holds its shape for days without flattening.
Always have your ingredients at room temperature. When you use chilled eggs or milk in the cake batter, they won’t combine as well with the dry ingredients. Ingredients that are Poorly combined can cause a cake to be too dense rather than light and fluffy. Be careful not to overbeat the batter. It’s good practice to beat cake batter on low until ingredients have just combined. Over mixing the batter can result in a cupcake that’s flatter, denser, and cause a tighter grain (almost bread-like). Use an ice cream scoop to add the batter to the pan. This not only ensures that the cupcakes are uniform in size, but that they bake evenly too. Always Pre-heat your oven. I know it’s one of the first things in every recipe and you may think I shouldn’t have to say it, but I’m going to say it – Preheat your oven. If your oven isn’t thoroughly preheated, your cupcakes may not bake properly. They can end up uneven or won’t rise properly. Invest in an oven thermometer and use it to check the temperature of your oven before baking. An oven thermometer can take the guesswork out of over and undercooked cupcakes and ensure you actually are using the correct temperature that the recipe calls for.
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Erren's Kitchen is written and produced for informational intentions only. We are not certified nutritionists, and the nutritional information found on this site has not been assessed or authorized by a nutritionist or the FDA. The nutritional information found in our recipes is offered as an estimate and should not be considered a guarantee or fact. The estimated data is provided as a courtesy and calculated through a third-party online nutritional calculator, spoonacular API. Although we do our best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered rough estimates. Many factors, such as brands or products purchased and the nutritional fluctuations that naturally occur in fresh produce, can alter the effectiveness of the nutritional information in any recipe. Furthermore, various online calculators provide different results depending on their particular algorithms and nutrition fact sources. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
