Strawberry Filled Cupcakes

These delicious Strawberry Filled Cupcakes have a moist vanilla cupcake base, are filled with fresh strawberries, and are topped with rich strawberry buttercream.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 18

cooling time 1

Total Time 1 40

Servings cupcakes

Calories 452kcal

Author Kelly Hamilton

Cost $5

Equipment

Ingredients

1½ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
1¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup whole milk
1 cup diced fresh strawberries

Buttercream

1 cup freeze-dried strawberries
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 350° F. Prepare your muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the butter mixture until everything is combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin tins, filling each about ⅔ full.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes back with just a few crumbs, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the buttercream

Using a blender or food processor, blend the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder. You should have about a ¼ cup. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, strawberry powder, 2 tablespoon of milk, and vanilla. Mix on medium-high for about 2-3 mintues, until smooth and creamy. If needed, add ½-1 tablespoon of milk to get the right consistency.

Fill and ice cupcakes

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, you are going to remove the center inside of the cupcake. Using an icing tip, press down it into the center of the cupcake and twist back up, pulling out the inside of the cupcake. You can also use a sharp knife to cut out a circle in the middle. You don't want to go all the way to the bottom, just about ½-⅔ of the way down. Fill each cupcake with 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped strawberries and pack them tightly inside.
Using a piping bag and tip, pipe the buttercream over top of the cupcakes. Garnish with a fresh strawberry.

Notes

Use room temperature ingredients- using room temperature ingredients is so important when baking, and if you're making a recipe that calls for room temperature ingredients make sure to use them. Room temp ingredients are what give you light, fluffy, perfect cupcakes!
Spoon and level your flour- I always recommend spooning and leveling your flour when baking. Scooping the measuring cup right into the flour will actually compact the flour and give much more than the recipe calls for. To spoon and level, use a large spoon to gently scoop the flour into your measuring cup. Once it's full, use a flat edge (like a butter knife) to gently scrape across the top of the measuring cup.
Don't overmix the batter- this is important! Overmixed batter will give you tough cupcakes- not what we want! It can also lead to your cupcakes rising too quickly in the oven and then falling in the middle once you take them out. Make sure to mix the dry ingredients and milk when alternating JUST until they are combined.
Use a good tip- there are a few icing tips out there that you can use, but this Ateco #849 is my new favorite! That is what you see in these photos! These are the piping bags I use as well.

Nutrition