These moist strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting have a very prominent strawberry flavor and a soft, tender texture. They have a very natural pale pink color from the freeze-dried strawberry powder, so you don’t have to use any food coloring if you don’t want to.
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Ingredients and substitutes
Flour – Use either all-purpose flour or cake flour to make my very best strawberry cupcakes.
Strawberries – I used freeze-dried strawberry powder to create a strawberry cupcakes recipe with a strong strawberry flavor. Unfortunately, fresh strawberry puree won’t give you the same result, if you’re wondering.
Baking powder – In all cupcake recipes, I use baking powder as a leavening agent.
Vanilla extract and salt – I use just a little bit of vanilla in the cupcake batter as well as in the frosting. It’s very important that you don’t add too much as it will overpower the strawberry flavor. As for the salt, we need to add it to balance out the flavors.
Fats – Use unsalted butter at room temperature to make the batter and for the cream. I also add vegetable oil to the batter to keep our homemade strawberry cupcakes soft and moist longer.
Sugar – For the cupcakes, I use white granulated sugar; for the frosting, powdered sugar.
Milk - I use whole milk at room temperature for this strawberry cupcake recipe. If you forgot to take it out of the fridge in advance, you can heat it in a microwave for 20 seconds.
Eggs - The eggs should be at room temperature. Same as with milk, it is possible to warm them if you forgot to take them out from the fridge in advance. Just place them in a bowl filled with warm water for 3-5 minutes.
Cream cheese – I use Philadelphia Original cream cheese, but you can use whatever brand of cream cheese you want. Make sure that it has no other flavorings in it, though.
Cooking tips
Don’t overmix the cupcake batter. Cupcakes are meant to be soft, with a tender crumb. Mixing the batter for too long will create too much gluten and your dessert will come out dense and rubbery.
Whip the butter well for the frosting. When you whip the butter with powdered sugar, the mixture becomes very fluffy and almost white, which creates a more beautiful frosting and makes the texture very soft and silky. Also: the whiter the frosting, the better it will behave when additional colors are added.
Use water-soluble coloring. If you want to add some color to your cupcake batter or the frosting, you can add any water-soluble coloring. It can be in liquid, gel, or paste forms.
Step by step directions
For the cupcakes
1. Preheat the oven to 340F (170C) and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, freeze-dried strawberry powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract and beat for 3-5 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Then, add the oil and beat until incorporated.
4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat them to emulsify.
5. Add the dry ingredients while alternating with the milk and mix on low, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl and mix again until homogenous in consistency.
6. Fill the paper liners ⅔ full and bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake in the middle of the pan comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, transfer onto a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature before decorating with the cream.
For the strawberry cream cheese frosting
1. Place the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip until fluffy and white. Then, add the cream cheese in several parts and whip on medium to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl and whip on medium until stable and fluffy.
2. Place half of the cream into a separate bowl and set aside.
3. Add the freeze-dried strawberry powder to the cream that is still in the mixing bowl and whip until well combined.
4. Place both creams into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice so they come out at once when you pipe. Decorate completely cooled cupcakes.
Possible variations
Fresh strawberries – As I mentioned previously, using fresh strawberries in the cupcake batter won’t make your cupcakes flavorful. However, you can make fresh strawberry cupcakes by making a strawberry filling that you pipe into the center of your cupcakes before piping the cream on top. You can also cube fresh berries and fold them into your cream cheese frosting if you really want to use fresh berries. Finally, the easiest way to add fresh strawberries is to decorate the cream hats with some!
Strawberry flavoring – I feel like freeze-fried strawberry powder is enough to give your cupcakes the desired flavor, but you can always use a little bit of flavoring to intensify it.
Another frosting – If you’re not a big fan of cream cheese, you can use other types of cream to decorate your cupcakes. The most important thing you should think of when choosing cupcake frosting – it should be stable enough to keep its shape after piping. So, strawberry buttercream frosting or whipped white chocolate ganache will work.
FAQ
Unfrosted cupcakes can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Frosted cupcakes can also be stored for 4 days but in the fridge. In the fridge, keep your cupcakes either in an air-tight plastic cake box or covered with plastic wrap on a plate.
Unfrosted, these cupcakes can be frozen for up to 2 months.
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Recipe card
Strawberry cupcakes
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scale
- Muffin pan
- Muffin liners
- Stand mixer or a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 20 g freeze-dried strawberry powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 100 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 g white granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 20 g vegetable oil such as canola or sunflower oil
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 150 ml whole milk at room temperature
Frosting
- 200 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 70 g powdered sugar
- 400 g cream cheese
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- 15 g freeze-dried strawberry powder
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 340F (170C) and line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, freeze-dried strawberry powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer and a bowl), add the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract and beat for 3-5 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Then, add the oil and beat until incorporated.
- Add the eggs one at a time and beat to emulsify.
- Add the dry ingredients while alternating with the milk and mix on low, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Should look like this – dry/half of the milk/dry/the rest of the milk/dry. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl and mix again until homogenous in consistency.
- Fill the paper liners ⅔ full and bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake in the middle of the pan comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let the cupcakes rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Then, transfer onto a cooling rack to cool down to room temperature before decorating with the cream.
For the frosting
- Place the butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or you can use a hand mixer and a bowl) and whip until fluffy and white. Then, add the cream cheese in several parts and whip on medium to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl and whip on medium until stable and fluffy.
- Place half of the cream into a separate bowl and set aside.
- Add the freeze-dried strawberry powder to the cream that is still in the mixing bowl and whip until well combined.
- Place both creams into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice so they come out at once when you pipe. I usually spread uncolored cream with a spatula on one side of the bag, then the other one on the opposite side. Then, I connect both sides and push the cream down, towards the piping nozzle. Don’t worry if it’s a bit messy. When piped out, it will look very pretty! Decorate completely cooled cupcakes.
Sarwat Ahmad
Hi! Can’t wait to try this! With added strawberry compote in the center. Had a question. You mention strawberry milk twice but I didn’t see anywhere when you mention adding strawberry powder to the milk.
Also, can this recipe be used for making cake layers?
Thanks!
Sarwat
Anna
Hi Sarwat! Thank you for your comment and for pointing out my mistake. I wrote strawberry milk by mistake. It should be just plain whole milk that you alternate with the dry ingredients during the last stage of making the cupcake batter.
As for the cake layers, I think this recipe will work, although I haven't tried baking a cake using this particular batter. It should be enough to fill two-three 6" (15cm) round cake pans. Usually, I bake my cakes low and slow. I would bake two-three 6-inch cake layers at 160C (320F) for 25-30 minutes (the time and temperature may vary because all ovens bake differently). Low temperature helps your cake layers bake flat without caramelization on the bottom and sides. I hope you find my answer helpful!