These light, spongy Strawberry Cupcakes are topped with a full-bodied, to-die-for Strawberry Italian Meringue Buttercream Frosting! It’s the perfect topping for this perfectly strawberry dessert!
Okay, I know I was just waxing rhapsodic about fall and fall flavors, but you can’t expect me to quit all berry desserts cold turkey, just because it’s October.
Besides, these strawberry cupcakes were for a baby shower, and I’m pretty sure there’s a Cute Baby Exclusion Clause in the Big Book O’ Seasonal Produce Rules. Look it up. I’ll wait.
I’m not usually a frilly pink person, but I saw these cupcake wrappers at TJ Maxx (yes, really) and although I didn’t know what I wanted to use them for, they were too cute to pass up. A few weeks later, I volunteered to make desserts for a baby girl shower, and I knew the wrappers had to make an appearance. And what better to fill them with than moist strawberry cake?
The cupcakes were topped with either vanilla or strawberry Italian meringue buttercream—my absolute favorite, because it’s so light, with the perfect melting texture and a flavor that’s full-bodied but not too sweet.
I was obsessed with the idea of topping these cupcakes with Strawberry Whoppers. I just knew it would be the cutest touch, so I went to multiple stores trying to track them down. Turns out they’re an endangered species—I couldn’t find them anywhere! I settled for making balls out of fondant and dusting them with luster dust, which I think turned out even cuter than the Whoppers would have been. Wish I thought of that before starting my wild goose chase!
This isn’t directly cupcake-related, but at the shower I served the dessert with strawberry milk and pink and white striped straws, and folks nearly died from the cuteness of it all. I think it’s time strawberry milk made a comeback. I know it’s nutritionally dreadful. It’s 50% food dye, 49% sugar, and 1% artificial flavoring, but man is it a cute addition to a shower buffet. Let’s overlook the health problems in favor of taking fun photos. Deal?
I had some problems with the cupcakes shrinking and pulling away from the wrappers once they’d cooled. It was actually fine, since I baked them in these extra-sturdy, extra-tall cups and covered them with frosting, but I think it might have been a disaster had I just used regular wrappers. If you’re going the regular wrapper route, I suggest omitting the puree from the cupcakes and having just the Jell-O provide the berry taste. They won’t be as flavorful, but I think by having a less moist batter you’ll avoid some of the shrinking problems. You could always fill them with strawberry jam, post-baking, to add back some of that authentic strawberry flavor.
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Strawberry Buttercream
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Strawberry Cupcakes With Vanilla and Strawberry Italian Meringue Buttercream
Ingredients
For the Cupcakes:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 oz powdered strawberry gelatin , like Jell-O
- 8 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup fresh strawberry puree, strained of seeds
For the Italian Meringue Buttercream:
- 5 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 cup water
- 14 oz granulated sugar, about 2 cups
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 12 oz unsalted butter, (3 sticks), slightly softened but still cool
- 1 TBSP vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup fresh strawberry puree, strained of seeds
- pink gel food coloring, I used Americolor Deep Pink, optional
Instructions
For the Cupcakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tins with 24 papers.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, gelatin, and butter. Cream on medium-high speed with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Mix the vanilla and milk together.
- With the mixer running on low, add a third of the dry ingredients. When that’s mostly incorporated, add half of the liquid ingredients, and let it become absorbed before you add more drys. Continue in this alternate pattern until all the flour and milk mixtures have been added, ending with the drys. Add the strawberry puree and mix it in just until it’s combined.
- Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20-25 minutes, until they’re puffed and the tops spring back when gently pressed with a finger.
- Allow to cool at room temperature completely before frosting.
For the Italian Meringue Buttercream:
- Place the room temperature egg whites in the very clean bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Insert a candy thermometer and cook until it reaches 245 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While you are waiting for the sugar syrup to reach the proper temperature, begin beating the egg whites. (I usually start beating them when the temperature is around 230 degrees F.) Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat until the whites look foamy. Stop the mixer briefly and add the cream of tartar. Turn the mixer back on and begin to beat on medium-high speed until the whites are stiff but not crumbly. You can turn the mixer off if the egg whites are finished before the syrup is ready.
- When the whites are stiff and the sugar syrup is 245 degrees, turn the mixer back on to medium-high and pour the syrup into a cup or pitcher with a spout. Slowly and carefully pour the hot syrup down the sides of the bowl into the egg whites while the mixer is running. The whites will rise in volume. After all of the syrup is added, let the mixer run on medium speed until the sides of the bowl feels barely warm, which may take anywhere from 20-30 minutes.
- Once the egg white mixture has cooled, gradually add the softened butter bit by bit until it is all incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. The egg white mixture will deflate and might look soupy. If it looks soupy or broken, continue to beat the mixer on low or medium speed until it comes back together. Eventually it will become a beautiful, smooth frosting. This is why it’s important to use butter that’s soft but cool: butter that is too warm will just liquefy and make soupy buttercream. If it resists coming together, refrigerate the bowl briefly, for about 10 minutes, then continue beating until it smooths out.
- Once the frosting is finished, add the vanilla extract and mix it in. If you want to flavor the whole batch strawberry, add all of the puree and a drop or two of pink food coloring, if using. If you only want to flavor a portion of the frosting, divide it up and slowly add some of the puree, tasting consistently, until you get a texture and flavor of strawberry buttercream that you enjoy.
- The frosting can be stored at room temperature for a few days, or up to a week or two in the refrigerator or several months in the freezer. If refrigerated, allow it to come to room temperature, then re-beat to get the proper texture.
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Can you tell me where you get the striped cupcake cups would love to do this as a wedding favor
Hi Anne,
I actually bought them from TJ Maxx. The brand is Le Petite Gateau by Robert Gordon Australia, and it looks like they’re an Australian product. I found them online here:
http://www.cupcakeworld.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=16_38
Not sure if they’re easily available in other countries or not.
Hi again Anne, I was at Sur La Table recently and saw very similar party cups! I think these were the ones I saw:
http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1021955/Paper-Eskimo-Pink-and-White-Stripe-Baking-Cups
Hi I really want to try out these cupcakes but … In the UK we dont have strawberry gelatin… So is there anything I can substitute?
Hi, you can make it without the strawberry gelatin, it will just have a lighter strawberry flavor. (You don’t need to change anything else in the recipe.) If you have strawberry extract or some other sort of strawberry flavoring, you can add a little of that too boost the berry flavor, but it’s not necessary.
I just made your frosting and it was WONDERFUL!!! I’d like to make it again for some folks next week but it needs to be non-dairy. Do you have any advice on what I could substitute the butter with??
Hi Suzanne, I’m so glad you enjoyed the frosting! Dairy-free buttercream is tricky, since so much of the texture and flavor comes from the butter. I don’t have personal experience, so this is all conjecture and a bit of googling: you might be able to substitute shortening for the butter. If you did that, you would probably want to look for “high-ratio shortening” which is what bakeries and cake companies use–it might be sold at a local cake or candy supply store. Regular shortening, like Crisco, is very greasy when used in large quantities in frosting and kind of coats your mouth with grease–you might know the feeling I’m talking about. This type of frosting is called Swiss meringue, and if you google “Swiss meringue with shortening” you’ll find lots of posts with advice about how to do it. I wouldn’t recommend using the nondairy margarine sticks, since those have a different amount of fat/water than butter and might cause the frosting to break. Also, I found this post where someone uses an organic palm shortening with good results:
http://pumpkinspantry.blogspot.com/2011/06/swiss-buttercream-dairy-free-refined.html
Sorry to not have personal advice to share with you! If you give it a try I’d love to hear how it turns out.
Thanks for the quick response! Turns out that my local Publix DID have the palm oil shortening, but at $7.99/24oz, Yikes! I did get it but have yet to try it out. You’re exactly right about that nasty oily taste that you get using Crisco. That is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Anyways, I’ll give the palm oil a shot and let you know if it works. Thanks again!
I noted what you’d said about cupcake shrinkage, so I tried reducing the strawberry puree to a scant 1/4 cup, and perhaps this helped, as I had very little pulling away from the wrapper. (I also used the lovely tall cardboard cups to bake them in, so they looked almost as pretty as yours 😉
So glad to hear the recipe worked with reduced puree! (And how gorgeous are those cupcake cups? They do most of the work in making the cupcakes look nice, ha.) Thanks for stopping by, Kelly!
Hi Elizabeth! we’ve just come into spring here in australia so I cant wait to give these a go!
Awesome! What a perfect way to welcome in Spring. 🙂
Hi there, do you use fresh or frozen strawberries?
Hi Jazz, I usually use frozen (since I always keep some in the freezer!) but either should work well.
Instead of the puree could i just use chopped up strawberries?
Yes, I think if they’re very finely chopped you could sub those in just fine!
Attractive pictures!! Mouth watering strawberry cupcakes with the great explanation to prepare it. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Thanks, I hope you enjoy!
These Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes are soft, fluffy, moist & delicious! I love this recipe!