Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Buttercream Flowers
These strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are one of my favorite homemade cupcake recipes to make in the spring and summertime! They are moist, tender, and filled with fresh strawberries!
Prep Time2 hourshrs
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time2 hourshrs20 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best cupcake recipe, best strawberry cupcakes, buttercream flowers on cupcakes, easy strawberry cupcakes, how to make strawberry cupcakes, strawberry cupcake recipe, strawberry cupcakes with buttercream frosting, strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
Servings: 28cupcakes
Calories: 254kcal
Author: Whitney Reist
Ingredients
For the strawberry puree:
1poundfresh strawberries,hulled and halved
For the cake batter:
2 ½cupscake flour
2teaspoonsbaking powder
½teaspoonsbaking soda
1teaspoonsalt
¾cup(1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 ½cupsgranulated sugar
4largeegg whites,at room temperature (see note)*
1largewhole egg,at room temperature
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
¾cupfull-fat buttermilk,at room temperature
½cupreduced strawberry pureesee note*
For the cream cheese frosting:
1(8-ounce)package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
¾cup(1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1teaspoonvanilla extract
2tablespoonshalf and half,plus more as needed
4cupspowdered sugar,sifted
For the buttercream flowers:
1cup(2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
2tablespoonshalf and half,plus more as needed
4cupspowdered sugar,sifted
Americolor gel in “Mint Green”(#112)
Americolor gel in “Peach”(#117)
Americolor gel in “Dusty Rose”(#115)
White nonpareils sprinkles
Special equipment:
Wilton tip 1A
Wilton tip 104
4icing bags and coupler sets
Flower nail
Parchment paper squares(2’’x2’’)
Natural paper cupcake liners
Instructions
For the strawberry puree:
Combine the strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring often until the puree has reduced to about ½ cup. Transfer to a bowl and cool to room temperature.
For the cake batter:
Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line muffin tins with paper liners (you should need about 2 ½ dozen), and set aside.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large fine-mesh sieve. Sift together into a large bowl. Set aside.
Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat them together at high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the egg whites and egg to the butter mixture and beat on high speed for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.
Add the vanilla and strawberry puree to the buttermilk. Stir to combine.
Alternately in 3 additions for the buttermilk mixture and 2 additions for the flour mixture, add the liquid and dry ingredients to the mixer on low speed, beginning and ending with the liquid mixture, until just combined. Do not overmix. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed between mixing additions. The batter will be slightly thick.
Fill the lined cupcake wells with batter until two-thirds full. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the cupcake tops spring back when touched and are just set in the middle.
Remove pans from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the cream cheese frosting:
Combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, half and half, and powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until just combined, then increase to high speed and beat for 2-3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag to use right away or chill up to 2 days for later use. (see note)*.
For the buttercream flowers:
Combine the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, half and half, and powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until just combined, then increase to high speed and beat for 2-3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. Divide the frosting into 3 bowls, with one of the bowls being about half the amount of the other two bowls. In the bowls with the larger amounts of frosting, use the food coloring gel in the color “peach” to dye one bowl and the color “dusty rose” to dye the other bowl. You will need 1-2 drops of color to reach the colors in this recipe’s photos. In the bowl with the smaller amount of frosting, add 1-2 drops of the color “mint green” and stir to combine. Transfer each color to a piping bag fitted with a coupler and use right away or store in the refrigerator for later use (see note)*.
Cupcake assembly:
Use a pastry bag fitted with tip 1A to frost the cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Apply the frosting in a swirling motion, starting on the outside of the cupcakes and working towards the center. Reserve a small amount of the cream cheese frosting for applying the buttercream flowers to the cupcakes.
Follow the video tutorials in this blog post to make the buttercream flowers. Be sure to chill the flowers thoroughly before placing them on the cupcakes! Use a small dab of cream cheese frosting to adhere each chilled flower and leaf to the top of the cupcake.
Once decorated, cupcakes can be chilled up to one day before serving and frozen up to 1 month before serving. To thaw, simply place the cupcakes in the refrigerator overnight or set out at room temperature for one hour.
Leftover strawberry puree can be used as a pancake, waffle, oatmeal or ice cream topping. Once baked, cupcakes can be stored in the refrigerator up to one day before frosting them.
Cream cheese and buttercream frosting may be made up to 3 days ahead. For the cream cheese frosting, let it sit out at room temperature for 1 hour before placing it in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat on high for two minutes to make it fluffy again. For the buttercream, let it sit at room temperature for one hour before adding food coloring and putting it in piping bags.