Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting feature a soft vanilla cake base studded with juicy fresh strawberry chunks and frosted in a strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Pretty in pink doesn’t even come close to describing these little cupcake gems. More like drop-dead GORGEOUS in pink and in literally every other way.

Strawberry cupcakes can be a little fussy to get the cake base + frosting just right while incorporating enough strawberry flavor, but I’m confident that these are PERFECT now!

They’re literally everything a good strawberry cupcake should be which means we’ve got a light and fluffy white cake, juicy strawberries in every bite, and a silky strawberry cream cheese frosting piped high on top.

You don’t have to be a pro baker to pull these off either! I walk you through each and every step in great detail and before you know it you’re going to have a plate of cupcakes staring ya in the face and testing your self-control in ways you wouldn’t believe.

Almost too breathtaking to eat, but no one will be letting that stop them here.

These Strawberry Cupcakes feature…

• A soft strawberry-studded vanilla cupcake base
• Silky strawberry cream cheese frosting
• Easy to make and impressive for any event

Making the Strawberry Cupcakes

(scroll down to the bottom of post for the full recipe)

Ingredients You Will Need

• Strawberries
• Egg whites
• Unsalted butter
• Granulated sugar
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Cornstarch
• Baking powder
• Kosher salt
• 2% or skim milk
• Cream cheese
• Powdered sugar
• Freeze-dried strawberries

Choosing Your Strawberries

I strongly recommend using fresh strawberries for these cupcakes. Frozen strawberries tend to release a lot of moisture once thawed that will end up in the cupcakes and result in a gummy texture.

Tips for Perfect Strawberry Cupcakes

1. Pulse strawberries in food processor – this will finely chop the strawberries giving you the perfect size for the cupcake batter.
2. Blot strawberries dry with paper towels – this removes excess moisture from the strawberries that would otherwise end up in the cupcakes.
3. Measure flour correctly – we use the spoon-and-level technique for measuring flour as this will prevent over-measuring your flour. Use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup, then level with the back of a knife.
4. Whip room temperature egg whites for batter – this gives the cupcakes a light and fluffy texture.
5. Bring milk to room temperature – this will help the milk mix more cohesively into the butter.
6. Gently fold batter – use a light hand when mixing batter and gently fold so as not to overmix and deflate the egg whites.
7. Use freeze-dried strawberries in frosting – freeze-dried strawberries are the perfect choice to tint your frosting pink and add a little extra strawberry flavor. Place strawberries in a food processor and pulse until they are a fine dust.
8. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting – the frosting will melt off if you try to frost them while the cupcakes are still warm.

Recipe Variations

Try these ideas for a different twist on these cupcakes.

• Use a different fruit – try fresh raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries in place of the strawberries.
• Try a different frosting – you can use a classic buttercream or whipped cream frosting.
• Add citrus to cake batter – fold 1 tablespoon grated orange or lemon zest into the batter.

Storing Instructions

Once frosted these cupcakes may be stored in refrigerator up to 4 days. They do tend to dry out the longer they sit in the refrigerator so I recommend serving them within a few days of assembly.

You can also store the frosting and cupcakes separately before assembly so the cupcakes are fresh for serving. Store the cupcakes in a sealed container at room temperature up to 4 days and the frosting in refrigerator up to 6 days (allow the frosting to soften at room temperature about 30 minutes before frosting).

You won’t turn to any other recipe after one bite of these luxurious strawberry cupcakes! The moist vanilla cake paired with the sweet strawberries and that rich cream cheese frosting is pretty much the ultimate dessert experience.

Plus they’re pink, okay? That levels up the fun tenfold.

Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.

More strawberry season favorites to bake up next!

• Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
• Whole Wheat Strawberry Shortcake
• Strawberry Peach Buckle

This post was updated with new recipe tips and photos on 6/14/24.