These strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are so sweet, creamy, and delicious! You can have them for birthday parties, anniversaries, or spring holidays – they are just perfect for any occasion! Here is the recipe:
Servings 12 cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
- 8-10 fresh strawberries, or as desired
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 2 ½ tablespoons instant strawberry pudding mix (optional)
- A few drops red food color (optional)
For the frosting:
- ¾ cup cream cheese softened
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4-5 fresh strawberries, sliced
Instructions:
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 325°/ 160°C/ Gas Mark 3. Line muffin cups with cupcake liners or simply spray them with cooking spray.
- In a blender, apply the strawberries and combine until smooth. Strain the puree to remove any seeds. The strawberry puree should around the ¾ Leave aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract until well incorporated. Stir in the flour, salt, baking powder, pudding mix (if using), and red food color (if using) and mix until you get a nice, smooth consistency. Fill each cup with around 2/3 of the batter.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake around 20-25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool 15 minutes before frosting. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.
To make the frosting:
- Using an electric mixer, whip cream cheese, and butter until smooth, and add in confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. Mix shortly again.
- Frost each cupcake with around 2-3 tablespoons of icing, and top with strawberry slices.
- Place in the fridge to set for 20-30 minutes, before serving.