Strawberry Cupcakes

Strawberry Cupcakes – moist, tender crumb cake with a hint of strawberry, topped with a large portion of whipped strawberry buttercream frosting!

Oh my goodness – it’s my favorite time of the year: strawberry season!  If you’ve followed along at all on my Snapchat adventures, then you know this weekend was filled with strawberries.  I bought an entire box, which is a lot more strawberries than I initially thought, but a problem I’m glad to have.

So it’s been strawberries on cupcakes, strawberries in white wine, strawberry ice cream…. and I’m thinking strawberry jam will be next.

Strawberries and I go way back – as a little girl I’d eat them every chance I could, and I loved dipping them in sugar.  Anyone else have this little obsession?  It drove my mom crazy, given that I was a young child who just wanted to eat more sugar.  I guess I’ve always had a sweet tooth…

Now when I see fresh strawberry stands on the corner I’m reminded of my “backpacking” time around Europe.  In Germany strawberry stands were EVERYWHERE, and I think I ate my weight in strawberries during the first two weeks I was there.  Every corner with the big red strawberry my eyes lit up, we pulled the car over, and I bought another pint.

Do you have strawberry stands where you are?  It’s not something I remember having in Minnesota.  In Iowa we had watermelon stands, as I was from what I like to think of as the watermelon capital of Iowa.  On the way to Charlotte we see so many peach stands, but out of all of these the strawberry ones take first place in my book (the rest being very close seconds).

So needless to say, Strawberry Cupcakes were a must when those fresh strawberry stands started showing up around here.  My mom used to make a strawberry cake very similar when I was younger, but it used a box mix, and instead I wanted to create a homemade version that will still knock your socks off.

Cake flour makes all the difference – honestly, I never understood how much of a difference it could make.  It was as though my world completely shifted when I took a bite of the cake flour version, so don’t skimp on this part.  If you don’t want to buy cake flour, no worries, because it’s super easy to DIY with corn starch- see the notes in the recipe below.

My other favorite part about these cupcakes?  Ok, I have two: strawberry yogurt is mixed in with the batter, making them moist, and subtly strawberry-y, without any fake food coloring (affiliate link) or jell-o.  PLUS, the frosting is a delicious buttercream with STRAWBERRIES, of course!  Strawberry preserves to be exact, to ensure no juicy, liquid sloppiness, but sweet, strawberry, yumm-tastic frosting.

Serve with fresh strawberries for best results, too.  Results being happy taste buds, and a happy you.

If you like this recipe – check out my Strawberry Coconut Cake, too!

Before I go, on this Memorial Day I want to take a moment to remember and thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  

Strawberry Cupcakes

Strawberry Cupcakes - moist, tender crumb cake with a hint of strawberry, topped with a large portion of whipped strawberry buttercream frosting!

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Dessert

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Servings: 28 cupcakes

Author: Becca Mills

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 2 cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 2 ¾ cup cake flour*
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup strawberry yogurt

FROSTING:

• 1 cup butter room temperature
• 2 ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 3 Tablespoons strawberry preserves
• 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 pint strawberries for garnish

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line or grease muffin tin.
• Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• Cream together butter and sugar using a stand mixer. Add vanilla and almond extracts and continue beating for 3-5 minutes. Add egg whites and eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition.
• Whisk together milk and yogurt in small bowl.
• Alternate adding dry mixture and yogurt mixture to the batter; beginning and ending with dry ingredients (3 dry additions, 2 wet additions).
• Fill cupcake approximately 2/3 full (I used 2 leveled scoops from my 1 inch cookie scoop). If you over fill, the cupcakes will rise over the top. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until tops bounce back when lightly touched. Be sure not to over bake – the edges will just slightly turn golden brown. Let cool on cooling rack.
• For Frosting: beat together butter and heavy cream. Add powdered sugar in half cup intervals, mixing in between each addition and scraping the sides as needed. Add strawberry preserves. Continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add additional powdered sugar if too thin or more cream if too thick. Frost cooled cupcakes and garnish with fresh strawberries.

Notes

If you don't have cake flour, create your own:
For every 1 cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 Tablespoons of the all-purpose flour (you can return it to your canister to save it). Add in 2 Tablespoons of corn starch. Sift together several times.

**For this recipe, I measure out 3 cups of all-purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons of the flour, add in 6 Tablespoons corn starch, and sift several times. I then remove 1/4 cup of the DIY cake flour. It takes a lot less "math" this way.

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