Strawberry filled cupcakes are packed with real berry flavor in every bite. Each cupcake is filled with a thick strawberry compote. The cream cheese frosting gets its pink color and bright flavor from a fresh strawberry reduction- red food coloring or artificial extract needed.
This is an essential summer recipe, just like my apple and strawberry crumble. However, it doesn’t have to be limited to summertime. You can make this recipe any time of the year!
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Have you ever gone strawberry picking? My husband and I went for the first time in 2020. We had so much fun so we made it a summer tradition!
What I love about strawberry picking is that you get to spend time outdoors and you go home with lots of fresh, sweet berries for snacking and baking.
These cupcakes are filled with strawberries, like my strawberry cream scones and strawberry cookies with white chocolate chips.
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Why We Love This Recipe
- Soft and delicious. They’re so good to bite into just like these hibiscus cupcakes!
- Delicious fruity handheld dessert, like my blueberry filled cupcakes.
- All natural strawberry flavor and color in both the filling and frosting.
- No special decorating skills needed. Just slap the frosting on with an offset spatula. It’s easy and still looks pretty and delicious!
Ingredients
Below are useful notes about some of the ingredients.
- Cake flour will help make the cupcakes more tender. If you bake a lot, you’ll find cake flour nice to bake with. Don’t have cake flour? Swap in equal parts all-purpose flour.
- Use unsalted room temperature butter in both the cupcakes and frosting.
- We’re using fresh strawberries in both the filling and frosting! They add delicious fresh flavor and natural sweetness just like in my recipe for strawberry pound cake.
- You’ll need granulated sugar for the filling and cupcakes and powdered sugar for the frosting. Take that extra thirty seconds to sift it first so that your frosting is smooth and free of lumps.
- Sour Cream keeps the cupcakes moist like this rhubarb sour cream cake and lemon chocolate cake!
- I love to add a touch of orange blossom water to the strawberry filling, but it’s optional. It adds a little extra floral flavor.
- Vanilla extract and almond extract give the cupcakes a delicious bakery-style flavor. Almond extract is great to have on hand, but if you don’t have any you can leave it out.
Please see recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Don’t have sour cream? Use full fat plain yogurt as a substitute.
- Swap in ground freeze dried strawberries in place of fresh strawberries in the frosting.
- Don’t have orange blossom water? Swap in a little vanilla extract.
- Big fan of orange blossom water? You can use it in place of vanilla in the frosting.
How to Make Strawberry Stuffed Cupcakes
Quick Video Recap
Instructions
Step 1– Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Alternatively add the dry ingredients mixture and sour cream.
Step 2– Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 17-21 minutes.
Step 3–Cook the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice until strawberries begin to release their juices. Whisk together cornstarch and water and stir into the strawberries. Cook until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in orange blossom water, if using.
Step 4– Once the cupcakes and compote have cooled completely, core the cupcakes. Fill each cupcake with around 1 tablespoon of the compote.
Step 5– Cook the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan until mixture reduces to about 1½ tablespoons. Remove from heat. Cool completely. Beat butter and cream cheese until light, fluffy. Mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla and strawberry reduction.
Step 6– Frost the cupcakes with a small offset spatula or any way you like!
Recipe FAQs
Yes! Fresh raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries would all work.
Store these strawberry stuffed cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. I recommend storing them in the fridge because they are filled with fresh berries.
Natalie’s Top Tips
- Core your strawberries. Coring just means cutting out the tops and the white part in the top/middle since that part doesn’t have any flavor.
- Use an ice cream scoop to evenly and neatly scoop the batter into the cupcake liners.
- A #40 cookie scoop works great for scooping frosting on top of the cupcakes!
- Try these during peak strawberry season! You can enjoy them year round, but they’re extra juicy and sweet when they’re in season.
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Strawberry Filled Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1¾ cups (218 g) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs room temperature- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract optional
- ⅓ cup (76 g) sour cream room temperature
Strawberry Filling
- 1⅓ cups (200 g) whole fresh strawberries (about 200g), hulled and cut into small pieces (yields about 1 cup or ~193g cut)
- 2½ tablespoons (30 g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (8 g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon water
- ⅛ teaspoon orange blossom water optional
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- ¼ cup (36 g) finely chopped strawberries
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 ounces (56 g) cream cheese room temperature, brick style
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon milk or cream optional, only if needed to thin the frosting out a touch
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy (mixture should be pale and doubled in volume).
- Mix in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and almond extract (if using) and mix for one more minute on medium-high speed.
- Using a spatula, stir in half the dry ingredients. Then stir in the sour cream. Finally, stir in the remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill cupcake liners ⅔ to ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 17-21 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before filling and frosting.
Strawberry Filling
- In a small saucepan, combine cut strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes until strawberries begin to break down and release their juices.
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water until completely smooth with no lumps.
- Add cornstarch mixture to the strawberry mixture and stir constantly.
- Continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes until mixture thickens noticeably and becomes jammy (it should coat the back of a spoon and hold its shape).
- Remove from heat and stir in orange blossom water, if using.
- Pour the mixture into a small bowl and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until completely cold (at least 1 hour). The compote will thicken further as it cools.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- Make strawberry reduction: Add chopped strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, for 7-8 minutes until mixture thickens significantly and reduces to about 1½ tablespoons. It should have a thick, jam-like consistency. Remove from heat, transfer to a small bowl, and let cool completely (or refrigerate for 15-20 minutes). The reduction must be completely cool before adding to frosting.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and completely combined with no lumps. Scrape down sides of bowl.
- Turn mixer to low and gradually add sifted powdered sugar, about ½ cup at a time. Once all sugar is incorporated, increase speed to medium-high and beat for 1-2 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Add vanilla extract, cooled strawberry reduction, and salt. Beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until completely combined and fluffy.
- Check consistency: Frosting should be smooth and spreadable. If too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time.
- I like to use a #40 cookie scoop to top each cupcake with frosting.
Assembling and Decorating
- Use a cupcake corer, a butter knife or paring knife or the wide end of a piping tip to core the cupcakes. You want to have a hole about 2/3 of the way down the cupcake. Do not cut all the way through to the bottom of the cupcakes. Discard cupcake cores (or save them for snacks).
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of chilled strawberry compote into each cored cupcake. Use the back of a small spoon to gently press down and level off the filling.
- If you have a #40 cookie scoop, use it to scoop the frosting (about 1½ tablespoons) on each cupcake. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, spread strawberry cream cheese frosting over each cupcake in a rustic swirl.
- Optional decoration: Top with a fresh strawberry slice, a sprinkle of freeze-dried strawberry powder, or a small dollop of leftover compote.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Joan
Delicious 😋 cupcakes! Everyone enjoyed them and they quickly disappeared. Thank you for the recipe
Natalie
Thank you so much for trying this recipe, Joan! I’m so happy to hear these strawberry cupcakes were a hit!
Barbara Briggs Ward
The best, most delicious, most fun-filled with a strawberry inside cupcake ever!
Natalie
Thank you so much! So happy you enjoyed these cupcakes and I agree- the strawberries inside add so much flavor and fun 🙂