Strawberry Cupcakes

5 from 2 votes

These berry-delicious strawberry cupcakes aren’t just any old ordinary cupcakes! They feature super moist and fluffy aromatic vanilla cake crowned with luscious fresh strawberry cream cheese frosting!

Prep Time8

Cook Time22

Total Time30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 595kcal

Author: Katalin Nagy

Equipment

Ingredients

Vanilla cupcakes

100 g Granulated sugar
113 g Unsalted butter room temperature
1 Egg room temperature
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
135 g All purpose flour
½ teaspoon Baking powder
½ teaspoon Salt
120 g Whole milk room temperature
½ teaspoon Baking soda
½ teaspoon White vinegar

Strawberry Cream Cheese frosting

170 g Strawberries Cut into very small pieces
20 g Granulated sugar
¼ tablespoon Lemon juice
113 g Unsalted butter 82% fat, at room temperature
60 g Powdered sugar sifted
226 g Cream cheese full fat (33%+) eg. Philadelphia

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Vanilla cupcakes

Prepare your cupcake tin by lining it with muffin liners and preheat your oven to 175℃ / 347℉ (no fan).
In a large bowl, cream the room temperature butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until it's light and fluffy. Then whip in the egg slowly followed by the vanilla extract.
Slowly pour the room temperature milk into the mixture as you keep whipping the batter.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt over the batter. Then switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the dry ingredients being careful not overmix the batter.
In a small bowl, mix vinegar with the baking soda. It will be super bubbly. Then immediately fold the vinegar mixture into the batter just until it's combined.
Pipe or spoon the batter evenly into the cavities of your cupcake tin, filling each one about ¾ full.
Bake the cupcake for about 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake them as they can dry out.
Cool the baked cupcakes on a cooling rack. They must be at room temperature before frosting.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Cut the strawberries into very small pieces and cook them with the sugar and lemon juice over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the mixture is reduced to 60g / ⅓ cup. Then let the mixture come to room temperature.
Place the soft, room-temperature butter into a mixing bowl and whip it for 1-2 minutes with an electric hand mixer. Next, add the sifted powdered sugar and whip it together with the butter until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Then add the full fat cream cheese and continue whipping for 2-3 more minutes.
Very slowly start adding the room temperature strawberry jam, one tablespoon at a time, while the mixer is running. Stop whipping the frosting once the jam is fully incorporated.
Transfer the frosting into a piping bag and chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.
Pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
Serve the cupcakes fresh. Store the leftovers in the refridgerator for 2-3 days.

Notes

INGREDIENT NOTES

All the ingredients must be at room temperature to properly emulsify: eggs, butter, and milk.
The baking soda and vinegar mixture is my signature baking hack to make cupcakes super moist and fluffy, do not skip it.
You might be able to make more or less cupcakes with this recipe, depending on the size of the cupcake tin cavities.
The cream cheese needs to be high in fat. Using the low-fat version may result in a thinner frosting because it contains more water.
Cut the strawberries into very small pieces so they will easily cook down into a jam consistency. If there are strawberry pieces in the jam after cooking, you might want to run the jam through a sieve for food processor.

TECHNIQUE NOTES

A digital scale is required for a consistent, happy baking experience.
Do not overwork the cupcake batter. After the wet ingredients are whipped, switch to a rubber spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients.
Always preheat your oven and consider using a digital oven thermometer for the best results.
When whipping in the eggs and milk, make sure they are all at room temperature. Otherwise, the batter will break.
Baking these cupcakes takes 22 minutes in my oven. However, you should focus on the texture, not the time. Apply the toothpick test (it should come out clean) to avoid overbaked cupcakes. Do not overbake them, as that will result in a dry texture.
Adding the jam to the frosting needs to happen very slowly, step-by-step, or the frosting might break.
Since we are using soft butter, right after whipping the frosting might still be on the softer side. If this is the case, chill it for 30 minutes before piping. However, if it's chilled for too long, the butter will solidify and you might find it difficult to pipe. In that case, bring it back to close to room temperature (slightly colder).

Nutrition