Strawberry Cupcakes

These strawberry cupcakes are “pretty in pink”. Moist and fluffy strawberry cupcakes made from strawberry reduction, swirled with a homemade strawberry buttercream frosting made with real strawberries for fresh strawberry flavor! If you love strawberries, these cupcakes are the perfect dessert!

Strawberry Cupcakes

Check out the swirl on these little beauties! Strawberry is a delicious dessert flavor for spring and summer.

These strawberry cupcakes are made with real strawberries! No strawberry extract in this recipe. The strawberry flavor in both the cupcakes and buttercream frosting come from strawberry reduction, which is cooked and pureed strawberries. The reduction has concentrated strawberry flavor which adds delicious fruity flavor to the cupcakes.

If you love this recipe, be sure to check out my recipe for strawberry cake with shortcut strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream frosting!

Ingredients for Strawberry Cupcakes

Strawberry cupcakes

• All-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar
• Baking powder – Leavening agent to help the cupcakes rise.
• Salt – Adds a bit of contrast to the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the cupcakes.
• Egg whites – Room temperature. Just the whites! Save the yolks for Crème Brûlée!
• Vegetable oil – You can also use canola oil or another neutral baking oil.
• Sour cream – Room temperature.
• Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds some great floral flavor to the cupcakes.
• Strawberry reduction – Fresh strawberries or frozen strawberries cooked down and blended to create a concentrated strawberry reduction or strawberry puree. Check out my blog post on How to Make Strawberry Reduction!
• Pink gel food coloring – Optional. Helps enhance the pink color of the cupcakes.

Strawberry buttercream frosting

• Unsalted butter – Room temperature, softened butter for easy creaming.
• Powdered sugar – No need to sift unless there are lumps. Also known as confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar.
• Strawberry reduction – One recipe of strawberry reduction should be enough to make both the strawberry cupcakes and strawberry buttercream frosting. Don’t forget to check out the blog post to see how to make it!
• Vanilla extract – A bit of pure vanilla extract adds great flavor to the buttercream.
• Salt – A bit of salt contrasts the sweetness of the frosting.
• Heavy cream – Heavy cream helps the buttercream become smooth and creamy.

How to Make Strawberry Cupcakes

To make the strawberry cupcakes, all you need is a bowl and a whisk! The cupcake batter comes together in no time at all.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Add in milk, vegetable oil, egg whites, sour cream, vanilla extract, and strawberry reduction to the flour mixture. Whisk until the ingredients are combined. Optional – Add a small drop of pink gel food coloring.
4. Use a large cookie scoop to portion the cupcake batter into the paper liners about 3/4 full.
5. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until the cupcakes bounce back when gently touched or an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

How to Make Strawberry Buttercream

To make strawberry buttercream frosting, I recommend using a stand mixer for the best results. You can use a paddle attachment or a whisk attachment based on your personal preference. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can also use an electric hand mixer.

1. Whip the room temperature butter for about 5 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale in color.
2. Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix on the lowest speed until the sugar is combined with the butter. Then add the remaining powdered sugar and continue to mix on low speed.
3. Add the room temperature or chilled strawberry reduction and continue to mix on low speed.
4. Add the vanilla extract and salt and continue to mix on low until combined. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream.
5. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and whip the buttercream for about 2-3 minutes.