These strawberries and cream cupcakes have a light, vanilla bean cupcake base filled with homemade strawberry jam and topped with strawberry whipped cream frosting! I love using whipped cream as a topping for cupcakes because it's light and not too sweet (aka perfect for a hot summer day)!
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Why You'll Love These Strawberry Cupcakes!
These light strawberry cupcakes are a simple but stunning dessert! They're perfect for Valentine's Day or a summer birthday party!
- Moist vanilla bean cupcake base - The cupcakes are super moist and delicious and flavored with vanilla bean paste!
- Filled with homemade strawberry jam - The vanilla cupcakes are filled with strawberry jam for extra strawberry flavor!
- Fluffy strawberry whipped cream frosting - You can't have strawberries and cream cupcakes without homemade whipped cream! The frosting is stabilized with gelatin so that it doesn't melt down the side of the cupcakes.
- Super easy to decorate - All you need to make these cupcakes beautiful are some sliced strawberries!
You might also like these lemon raspberry cupcakes or this strawberry shortcake cake!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few simple ingredients to make these summery strawberries and cream cupcakes!
- Cake flour - I always use cake flour in my cupcakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
- Whipped cream - I love topping these strawberry cupcakes with homemade whipped cream! To make the whipped cream more stable, I like to add powdered gelatin to it but that's completely optional.
- Lemon juice & zest - I highly recommend using fresh lemons for the best flavor! But you can always substitute with a little bottled lemon juice if necessary.
- Vanilla bean paste - For the best vanilla flavor in the cupcakes, I like using vanilla bean paste! However, you can easily substitute for vanilla extract.
- Strawberries - There are a LOT of strawberries in this recipe! For the filling, I recommend using fresh strawberries, but frozen will work too. For the strawberry whipped cream, I recommend using ground up freeze dried strawberries, but you can also use puree from fresh strawberries! I'll explain both methods below!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make the Strawberry Filling
Making homemade strawberry jam is super easy and only requires a couple ingredients! Note: if using frozen strawberries, you might need to add in a little bit of cornstarch to help thicken the jam.
- Add all of the jam ingredients to a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow the jam to simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened.
- Transfer the jam to a glass jar and allow to cool to room temperature. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- That's it!
I recommend making the jam the night before you want to make the cupcakes so that it has time to fully cool. However, if you don't feel like making homemade jam, store-bought is fine! My favorite store-bought strawberry jam is Bonne Maman.
How to Make Vanilla Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla bean paste together until combined.
Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in the milk and the remaining flour mixture and mix until fully combined.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
Let the vanilla cupcakes cool completely before frosting and filling.
How to Make Stabilized Whipped Cream
You can use just regular whipped cream if you don't have gelatin lying around, but for piping I always prefer to stabilize it so that it stays nice and pretty (aka doesn't start melting down the side of you cupcake after 12 hours).
You can also check out this blog post for all of my other tips for making good whipped cream!
There are two options for making this strawberry whipped cream! I've tested both and they both work great, so it just depends on what you'd rather do!
You can either flavor the whipped cream with freeze dried strawberries, or with fresh strawberries!
- Freeze dried strawberries - Add about ½ cup of freeze dried strawberries to a food processor and grind until you have a fine powder. Add in 1-2 tablespoons to your whipped cream. This option will give you a pink frosting with little strawberry specs in it (pictured) and will have stronger strawberry flavor.
- Fresh strawberries - Puree 8-10 strawberries using a blender or food processor. Then pass the puree through a fine mesh strainer and set aside. Add in 1-2 tablespoons of strawberry puree to your whipped cream. This option will give you a smooth, pink frosting with a mild strawberry flavor.
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Cupcake Decorating Tips
- Make sure you let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting!!
- Use a cupcake corer to easily remove the center of your cupcakes before filling with strawberry jam.
- For these big beautiful frosting swirls on these strawberries and cream cupcakes, I use the large round tip from this decorating kit. The tips are much larger than standard sizes and so fun for decorating cupcakes!
- After frosting, garnish with fresh strawberry slices!
Recipe FAQ's
These cupcakes will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Technically no, but you should! If you use regular whipped cream it will only hold it shape for a couple hours and will melt quickly. It will work only if you plan on eating all the cupcakes immediately after making them.
Absolutely! If you don't want to make your own jam, just use your favorite brand!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Strawberry Dessert Recipes!
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Recipe Card
Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, substitute vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup whole milk
Strawberry Whipped Cream
- ½ cup freeze dried strawberries, substitute 8-10 fresh strawberries (see notes)
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons flavorless powdered gelatin
- 2 tablespoons water
Strawberry Jam (optional)
- 1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional
Instructions
Strawberry Jam
- I recommend making the jam the night before you want to make the cupcakes so that it has time to fully cool. You can also substitute your favorite store-bought strawberry jam.
- Add all of the jam ingredients to a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Allow the jam to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently until thickened.
- Transfer the jam to a glass jar and allow to cool to room temperature. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12 cup pan with cupcake liners.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla bean paste together until combined.
- Stir in about half of the flour mixture. Then stir in the milk and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until fully combined. The batter will be thin.
- Pour about ¼ cup of batter into each cupcake liner (they should be about halfway full).
- Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove from pan and let cool on wire rack.
- Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
Strawberry Whipped Cream
- Add the freeze dried strawberries to food processor and grind until a find powder forms.
- Add the water to a microwave safe bowl and sprinkle the unflavored gelatin on top. Allow to sit for a few minutes.
- Transfer the gelatin mixture to the microwave and microwave for 5-10 seconds, until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Stir the mixture, then set aside to cool slightly.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, combine the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and freeze dried strawberries (or strawberry puree). Whip the mixture until it starts to thicken and soft peaks form, then turn the mixer to low speed. Slowly pour in the gelatin mixture and strawberry puree and mix on low until well combined. Increase the mixer to medium speed and continue mixing until stiff peaks form.
- Note: if the gelatin mixture thickens up too much before you add it to the whipped cream, just pop it back in the microwave for 3-5 seconds. It should be a pour-able consistency.
Assembly
- Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, use a cupcake corer to remove the center of each cupcake.
- Spoon about 1 teaspoon of cooled strawberry filling into each cupcake.
- Transfer the strawberry whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe swirls on each cupcake.
- Top with a sliced strawberry and enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Freeze dried strawberries - Add about ½ cup of freeze dried strawberries to a food processor and grind until you have a fine powder. Add in 1-2 tablespoons to your whipped cream. This option will give you a pink frosting with little strawberry specs in it (pictured) and will have stronger strawberry flavor.
- Fresh strawberries - Puree 8-10 strawberries using a blender or food processor. Then pass the puree through a fine mesh strainer and set aside. Add in 1-2 tablespoons of strawberry puree to your whipped cream. This option will give you a smooth, pink frosting with a mild strawberry flavor.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Rebeca says
I make these all the time. It’s to the point that someone got mad I didn’t bring them to something recently lol
Jenna says
Cupcakes were so light, moist, fluffy, and delicious and I could eat this whipped cream by the spoonful (and I don’t even like whipped cream lol).