The BEST Strawberry Filled Cupcakes - Spatula Desserts (2024)

These Strawberry Filled Cupcakes consist of super moist vanilla cupcakes filled with strawberry sauce and decorated with a phenomenal whipped cream frosting and strawberries. It is creamy, moist, fruity, and sweet but very well balanced in sweetness with full of natural strawberry flavors.

🌟 Why this is the best recipe

1. It is extremely easy– You won´t need any fancy ingredients to make these cupcakes. The recipe comes together really easily, a totally doable from scratch even if you are a beginner in the kitchen
2. It is super quick– I do not overcomplicate anything in this recipe! The cupcake recipe is not just easy, but quick as well, and my signature cream frosting whips up in no time
3. It is super delicious– I never compromise on taste! These are hands down the best Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry filling! They are super moist with the creamy frosting, generously filled with a strawberry sauce that is balancing the sweetness of the cupcakes
4. No special equipment is needed– All you need is a cupcake tin that you probably already have at home and use your favorite piping nozzle to make the frosting decoration
5. It is an honest, detailed tutorial– While this recipe might look long, all the information I have written here, every tip and trick will help you achieve the perfect results without any issues on the way. Remember, baking is science, and every little detail written here is to help YOU!

📝 Ingredient notes

For the vanilla cupcakes

1. Butter:Use always unsalted butter as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using European-style 82% fat content butter in all my cupcake recipes. In this Strawberry cupcake recipe, the butter needs to be at room temperature which technically means soft enough to be able to cream but not too soft or runny so avoid last-minute microwaving. The right consistency and temperature of the butter is are very important factors when it comes to the cupcake texture, so please make sure you leave the butter out on the kitchen counter to soften for a few hours before using it
2. Granulated Sugar:Standard, all-purpose granulated or white sugar is perfectly fine for making cupcakes, nothing fancy. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read mysugar guide
3. Egg:Room temperature as always
4. Vanilla bean paste: Avoid using artificial vanilla. There are several great brands for fine, pure vanilla, I useNielsen masseywhich I love and really recommend
5. Flour: All-purpose flour or pastry flour makes the best cupcakes. They are so-called “soft flour” which are low on protein resulting in a delicate, tender texture. It is always a good idea to sift your flour as it tends to form lumps. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read myflour guide
6. Salt:An essential ingredient in most dessert recipes. Balances flavor and enhances other ingredients
7. Baking powder: Has two functions: increase the volume and lighten the texture
8. Milk: Room temperature whole milk is the best to make the strawberry cupcakes rich and moist
9. White vinegar+baking soda: The SECRET ingredients to make cupcakes super moist and tender even after days, the exact opposite of those sad-looking dry ones from the stores

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

For the strawberry puree filling

1. Strawberry: These strawberry cupcakes are filled with a super quick and easy cooked strawberry puree. Feel free to use fresh or frozen strawberries
2. Sugar: Use granulated sugar. The exact amount of sugar will need your judgment depending on the sweetness of the strawberriesies you use
3. Lemon juice:A small amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice to balance the sweetness

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

For the whipped cream frosting

1. Heavy cream: Heavy cream, also known as whipping cream or double cream has a fat content between 36% and 40%, I use 36% in all my recipes. Use it very cold and do not substitute with vegetable-based “whipping cream” neither with low fat cream
2. Mascarpone: Very rich Italian cream cheese, exceptionally smooth and easy to spread, or whip. The flavor is milky and slightly sweet, use the full-fat version
3. Icing sugar / Powdered sugar:Powdered sugar is the first choice when it comes to whipping up the frosting. The question I often get is whether the quantity is a typo. NO, it´s not! You do not actually need a lot of sugar when you are using mascarpone and high-fat heavy cream! See my tips below for whipping up the perfect cupcake frosting without butter and without tons of sugar
4. Strawberry puree: This is totally optional. Either keep the frosting as it is or you can use a small amount of strawberry puree (same as the one you fill the cupcakes with) to enhance the color and taste of the frosting on your Strawberry filled cupcakes. If using it, add it at the very end before piping and only use a small amount otherwise the frosting might break (due to much water added with the puree)

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all Ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe

1. How to make moist vanilla cupcakes

This is a super simple base vanilla cupcake recipe that makes 6 wonderful tall bakery-style cupcakes.

1. Cream butter and sugar with anelectric hand mixer for a few minutes, then whip in the egg until fully combined, finally mix in vanilla
2. Sift together dry ingredients (flour+baking powder+salt)
3. Mix in the wet (milk) and dry ingredients in 4 steps: wet, dry, wet, dry. Make sure you finish with dry ingredients
4. Mix vinegar and baking soda together in a small bowl, it will be super bubbly. Immediately fold the mixture into the cupcake batter in a few seconds
5. Fill your cupcake tin till ¾ and bake the cupcakes at 175 C / 347F (no fan) for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean, then let them cool completely on aCooling rackbefore frosting

💡 Top Tip: Room temperature ingredients encourage proper emulsification on the cupcake batter therefore make sure that butter, egg, and milk are all at room temperature.

2. How to make strawberry puree filling

These Strawberry filled cupcakes will be filled with a super easy 3-ingredients strawberry sauce.

1. Whether you use frozen or fresh strawberries, first blend strawberries then cook them with the sugar and lemon juice over medium heat until slightly thickens. You don´t want to cook it for too long (as that would be making a strawberry jam) just long enough so some water evaporates and it thickens a bit
2. Let it cool before using

💡 Top Tip: It is important that both the cupcakes as well as the sauce are either cold or at least room temp otherwise they might melt together making a mess

3. How to make the whipped cream frosting

This frosting is super simple, it consists of mascarpone, heavy cream, and a small amount of icing sugar / powdered sugar whipped until fluffy, pipeable consistency.It is creamy, milky, a super stable frosting, and way more delicious and less sweet than strawberry buttercream frosting!

Using the right ingredients at the right temperature is extremely important while making cream cheese frosting.

1. Mascarpone should be cold, use the full-fat version (41%+)
2. Whipped cream should be very cold, use the full-fat version
3. Powdered sugar has to be sifted to avoid lumps

Whip the mixture with an electric hand mixer for a minute or two until it reaches a creamy, fluffy consistency, then stop.It won´t get stiffer after this point, in fact, if you overbeat it, it will get only runnier then it will break. I don´t use my stand mixer to whip this frosting since it is really easy to overwhip it.

Optionally you can add a tiny bit (like 1 tablespoon) of strawberry puree (the one you cooked for the filling) to color the frosting but too much puree can result in breaking the frosting so be careful with that.

Once you are happy with the consistency of your frosting, move frosting into a piping bag fitted with your favorite nozzle tip, the one I am using is French star nozzle tip to decorate these lovely Strawberry Filled Cupcakes

💡 Top Tip: If you do not have mascarpone, the recipe works with high-fat content cream cheese eg. Philadephia too

5. How to assemble the cupcakes

I recommend making the cupcakes first then while they are in the oven, prepare the strawberry filling. Once the cupcakes and also the strawberry filling is at room temp, prepare the whipped cream frostingas per instructions.

1. Make a small hole on each of the cupcakes and fill them with thee strawberry sauce
2. Pipe frosting on top of each cupcake. I am using is French star nozzle tip
3. Before serving, decorate the cupcakes with fresh strawberry
4. Another decoration idea could be edible gold, freeze dried strawberries, mint leaves, etc.
5. Store the cupcakes in the fridge in a container with a lid on

That´s it! Your Strawberry filled cupcakes are ready! For some extra decoration, make white chocolate covered strawberries or you could even try these Geode candy cupcake toppers.

💡 Top Tip: Always test the frosting by piping on a plate to check the consistency and temperature. If it is more on the soft side, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes before decorating the cupcakes

🎓 Expert tips

1. Always use room temperature ingredients that can properly emulsify. If your butter or milk or egg is cold, the cupcake batter might even break
2. Do not overmix the cupcake batter, once butter, sugar, and egg are whipped, the rest of the wet and dry ingredients should be gently mixed in without overmixing the batter
3. Do not overfill your cupcake tin, for this cupcake recipe, I recommend filling your cupcake tin until ¾. The recipe is designed to make 6 tall cupcakes. Cupcake cases are coming in different sizes in terms of their height, try to buy the taller ones. My muffin case is 35mm / 1.3 inch in height and 65mm / 2.5inch in diameter. If you overfill your cupcake tin it will result in “mushroom-style” cupcakes!
4. The whipped cream frosting is very easy to overwhip. When whipping the frosting stop as soon as the mixture reached a fluffy consistency (will take 1-2 minutes). It won´t get stiffer after this point, in fact, if you overbeat it, it will get only runnier then it will break
5. Never frost warm cupcakes, wait until they come to room temperature
6. Feel free to experiment with different flavors, the recipe works wonderfully with other berries eg. raspberries

☝️ 7 Secrets for making crazy moist cupcakes

1. Do not change the Recipe Ingredients

I suggest not to change the recipe ingredients unless you are an expert and aware of how to fully reformulate it. If you decide to leave out eggs or choose to go for dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, etc., I can almost guarantee that it will result in an imbalance in the ingredients making the pink cupcakes either too dry, too crumbly, too wet, or too oily, etc. in their texture. It is absolutely possible to make moist “free-from” cupcakes but that requires a totally new recipe instead of skipping certain ingredients

2. Use the Secret ingredient

I call it the secret ingredient, it is not really secret though since I share this tip in all my muffin recipes. Once the cupcake batter comes together – before baking – mix a small amount of (½ teaspoon) white vinegar with a small amount of (½ teaspoon) baking soda. The mixture will foam a bit, then you should quickly fold it into the cupcake butter – I promise this will make cupcakes airy and much lighter than average cupcakes

3. Learn the Technique

You very much have to be careful not over beating your cupcake butter. It might be tempting to pour everything into a stand mixer but please make sure to use aHand whiskfrom the point when butter and sugar are already creamed. Beating the cupcake batter too hard can result in too much gluten development that will negatively impact the texture of the cupcakes

4. Be precise while measuring your ingredients

For a consistent, happy baking experiencealways measure your ingredients with the help of aDigital scale. Cup measurement is inaccurate and not an appropriate way to measure ingredients. Just a little bit too much dry ingredients (eg. flour) or too few wet ingredients (eg. milk) can easily ruin your cupcakes` texture and make them dry.

5. Pay attention to the temperature

Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperate while making these Pink cupcakes. If your butter is too hard, your milk or egg is too cold, they won´t emulsify properly with the rest of the ingredients resulting in an unappealing texture on your cupcakes. When it comes to temperature, oven temp is also super important as baking these cupcakes on too high temp or for too long can result in a dry texture. Make sure you invest in an inexpensiveDigital oven thermometerto be able to measure your oven temp correctly.

6. Might apply soaking syrup

Soaking syrup is a common trick people use to make their cakes moist, you can use the same method for cupcakes. It is not mandatory and I don´t use it in this Strawberry filled cupcakes recipe but you can always brush the top of the cupcakes or even drizzle them with syrup that fits with the flavor eg. a raspberry syrup in this case

7. Storage the cupcakes correctly

Once cupcakes are well baked and beautifully frosted, the appropriate storage is important to avoid dry cupcakes. Instead of leaving them on a plate, store the cupcakesin a container with a tight-fitting lid on – in the fridge.

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