Strawberry Cupcakes
Enjoy the warm days of summer with these light and fluffy cupcakes—they are packed with fresh strawberry flavor and topped with tangy cream cheese icing.
Strawberry Cupcakes are the perfect summer treat, as strawberries are in season and everyone is in the mood for a fruity dessert. These Strawberry Cupcakes are adapted from my base vanilla cake recipe, but adjusted to include freeze dried strawberries, a little strawberry extract and my secret ingredient—kefir. These cupcakes are topped with a silky cream cheese icing, and finished with additional freeze-dried strawberry pieces for both a beautiful appearance and a delightful crunch. Let’s dive right into what equipment and ingredients are necessary to make these today.
Ingredients Needed
These cupcakes should be made using a stand or handheld mixer since they require creaming the butter and sugar for several minutes. I also recommend using a quality spatula, ideal for scraping the mixing bowl, and of course, muffin tins and liners are required for baking the cupcakes.
These cupcakes are relatively easy to make, and require mostly pantry staples including, butter, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and flour. There are a few ingredients that may require a trip to the grocery store, including freeze-dried strawberries, strawberry extract, cake flour and kefir. I purchase freeze-dried strawberries from Trader Joe’s as they are affordable, and I purchase strawberry extract, cake flour and kefir—I use Lifeway Kefir’s Plain Organic Whole Milk varietal—at my local Nob Hill. An equivalent grocer will carry these items as well.
Tips To Make Strawberry Cupcakes
1.) Follow the mixing times, as intended. For example, it is instructed to beat the butter and sugar together for several minutes. This is critical in creating a light and fluffy cake. Remember the instructions are listed for a reason, and should be followed, especially in baking.
2.) The freeze-dried strawberries should be ground into a fine powder (I use a food processor). This distributes both color and flavor throughout the cake. Please note: I use a touch of strawberry extract to compliment the freeze-dried strawberries, and further, I often add the tiniest amount of red food coloring to the batter to richen the color. Both the extract and food coloring are entirely optional.
3.) Add the eggs into the batter one at a time, beating for 10-15 seconds between each egg addition. Ideally, the eggs should be room temperature, as this aids in emulsification, and makes for fluffier batter, aka a softer cake.
4.) The cupcakes will take about 20 minutes to bake. To determine a cupcake is baked properly, look for slightly golden edges, and for bouncy tops when the cupcakes are pressed gently. Once baked, the cupcakes should be removed from the baking tins immediately; this is done to stop the baking process. Place on a wire rack to cool before frosting.
5.) Because the freeze-dried strawberries are naturally sweet, I reduced my cream cheese icing recipe by one cup powdered sugar. This makes the frosting less sweet and extra creamy. If the texture of the icing is too soft for you liking, feel free to add an additional one cup powdered sugar. As you can see, I went for a lovely rustic design when decorating these cupcakes—the consistency of the icing is too soft to pipe. This is the case whether three or four cups of powdered sugar are used.
Substitutions and Variations
These Strawberry Cupcakes can easily be turned into a 6” three-layer cake, instead of cupcakes In time, I will make a separate blog post for layered strawberry cake, but to make cake instead of cupcakes, simply follow the recipe, and rather than baking in cupcake tins, bake in three well-greased 6” pans. The cream cheese frosting yields enough to decorate a layered cake.
Buttermilk can be substituted for kefir.
If looking for other fruity treats, you can also try my Coconut Raspberry cake, Strawberries and Cream Cookies, Fresh Lemon Cake, or my Lemon Raspberry Cheese Pie.
Final Tip
Once the cupcakes are decorated, if not serving immediately, store the cupcakes in the fridge until 1 hour before enjoying. I like to top each cupcake with a few pieces of crumbled freeze-dried strawberries— do this right when serving the cupcakes. This will keep the freeze-dried strawberries crunchy; if left on too long the freeze-dried strawberries become soft. Store any leftover cupcakes in the fridge, as the cream cheese icing can’t be left out more than a day for safety concerns.
Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon strawberry extract
- red food coloring (optional)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons freeze dried strawberries, ground
- 1 cup Lifeway Kefir, room temperature
- 8 ounce block cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.
- In a mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes. Drizzle the oil into the bowl on medium-low speed. Once incorporated, turn the mixer back to medium speed for another 2 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, briefly mixing batter on medium speed until smooth, scraping the bowl after each egg addition. Add vanilla, strawberry extract and red food coloring* (if using), and mix until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and freeze dried strawberry powder. Spoon and level the flours for an accurate measurement.
- Fill a glass measuring cup with 1 cup kefir. Add 1/3 of the flour into the batter and mix on low speed. Drizzle half of the kefir and then continue with the next 1/3 of flour, followed by the rest of the kefir. Finish with the last 1/3 of flour, continuing to mix on low speed until no large lumps remain. Give the mixing bowl a good scrape with a spatula and mix briefly one more time.
- Distribute the batter evenly between the two 12-cup muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cupcake edges are lightly golden and the cupcakes spring back when pressed. A toothpick can also be used if desired. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
- With an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until there are no lumps, and the consistency is smooth.
- Add sifted powdered sugar to the bowl, 1 cup at a time, mixing first on low speed to prevent splashing, then turning the mixer to medium-low until it's incorporated. Repeat process with remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Briefly mix one more time to complete the icing. For a fluffier icing, the whisk attachment can be used.
Notes
If using red food coloring, I strongly recommend using a gel, a little goes a long way. Add just one drop to the batter. Remember, the cupcakes will already be pink from the freeze dried strawberries, the food coloring is meant to richen the color ever so slightly.
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