These summery Strawberry Cupcakes are made with real strawberries and a moist vanilla-flavored sour cream cake. The creamy white chocolate frosting is the perfect finishing touch!
These strawberry cupcakes are about as unfussy as you can get when it comes to cupcakes, but they’re sure to become your new favorite summer treat. Instead of cloying artificially-flavored strawberry cake, they’re made with real strawberries, giving them that perfect natural sweet-tart berry flavor. Each cupcake is topped with a swirl of white chocolate frosting, although cream cheese frosting would be fabulous, too. (You can use the recipe from my Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.)
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Cupcake Recipe
- Classic (and easy!) cupcakes. In a world full of fancy cupcakes with decadent fillings and elaborate toppings, sometimes what you really need is a classic, old-fashioned cupcake. Start with a moist, delicious cake and a creamy homemade frosting and you really can’t go wrong.
- A moist, tender crumb. The cake for these strawberry cupcakes is made with sour cream, which means it’s extra moist and flavorful.
- A cool summer treat. We love eating these straight out of the refrigerator. What’s better than a cool, sweet treat in the summer? If you prefer serving them at room temperature, take them out of the refrigerator about an hour before serving them.
What You’ll Need
Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
For the cupcakes:
- All-purpose flour – Learn more: How to Measure Flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter – Learn more: Unsalted or Salted Butter: Which is Better for Baking?
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract – You can use store-bought or my homemade vanilla extract.
- Sour cream
- Strawberries – I recommend using fresh strawberries for the very best strawberry cupcakes.
For the frosting:
- White chocolate – These can vary a great deal in quality. I recommend Ghirardelli or Guittard.
- Milk
- Unsalted butter – Let this soften so it’s easy to whip into a creamy frosting.
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Cornstarch – Cornstarch helps the frosting keep its shape!
Is White Chocolate Actually Real Chocolate?
Whether white chocolate is “real” chocolate is up for debate, but like dark and milk chocolate, white chocolate is made from cocoa beans. The difference is that with white chocolate, all of the cocoa solids are removed, leaving only the cocoa butter behind. To make white chocolate, sugar and vanilla are added to the cocoa butter.
How to Make Strawberry Cupcakes
Make the strawberry cupcakes:
- Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease a muffin pan.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the butter and sugar in a second mixing bowl, until they’re light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in the sour cream, then fold in the strawberries.
- Bake. Divide the batter into prepared pans. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool before you frost them.
Make the frosting:
- Melt the chocolate. Place the white chocolate and a tablespoon of milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power in 30-second bursts until the chocolate melts when you stir it.
- Beat the frosting. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar until they’re light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and cornstarch, followed by the white chocolate mixture.
- Frost the cupcakes. If needed, refrigerate the frosting for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the frosting is spreadable. Frost the strawberry cupcakes, then serve or refrigerate for later.
How Do You Frost a Cupcake Without a Piping Bag?
If you don’t have a piping bag or any decorating tips, don’t worry! You can still easily frost these strawberry cupcakes. Place the frosting in a zip-top bag, seal it, and use kitchen shears to clip off the corner. You can use this to pipe swirls of frosting onto the cupcakes, as pictured here.
Don’t want to fuss with piping? You can also use an offset spatula to spread the frosting onto each cupcake.
Tips for Success
- Use ripe, delicious strawberries. Whenever you’re baking with fruit, it’s important to use fruit that tastes good out of hand. If you wouldn’t eat it as a snack, it won’t magically taste better in your baked goods!
- Measure the flour by weight. Too much flour will make your strawberry cupcakes dry, while too little will make them dense and gooey. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, lightly spoon the flour into a measuring cup, then sweep off the excess with a butter knife.
- Don’t over-mix the batter. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Over-mixing will result in tough cupcakes.
How to Store
Strawberry cupcakes are best eaten the day they’re made, but they can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.
Can This Recipe Be Frozen?
These strawberry cupcakes can be frozen before or after they’re frosted.
- To freeze the cupcakes before frosting them: Let the cupcakes cool completely, then place them in a freezer bag or airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw them in the refrigerator, frost, and serve.
- To freeze the cupcakes after they’re frosted: Place the strawberry cupcakes on a sheet pan and freeze them until the frosting is frozen through and firm. Transfer the cupcakes to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw them in the refrigerator before serving.
More Strawberry Recipes
Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting
These cupcakes are packed with sweet strawberries, then topped with a lovely white chocolate frosting!
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 2 & 1/2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 6 ounces (170g) strawberries, chopped (about 1 cup)
For the frosting:
- 4 ounces (113g) white chocolate
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 & 1/2 to 2 cups (165 to 220g) confectioners’ sugar (depending on how sweet you want your frosting)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Instructions
To make the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 18 standard-sized muffin cups.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
- Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Stir in the sour cream. Stir in the strawberries.
- Transfer the batter to prepared pans, filling each cup about 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup batter). Bake 18-20 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely in pans on wire racks.
To make the frosting:
- Place the white chocolate and 1 tablespoon milk in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave at half power in 30-second increments until chocolate melts when stirred. Do not overheat. Allow to cool.
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and corn starch. Add the melted white chocolate and mix well. Refrigerate, if necessary, for 15-20 minutes or until frosting is spreadable.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes. Keep the frosted cupcakes refrigerated if not serving immediately.
Notes
To store: Refrigerate these cupcakes for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container, or freeze for up to 3 months.
10 Comments on “Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting”
Amazing that the cupcake trend hasn’t died down yet; not that there’s anything wrong with them, but once something becomes so popular it usually disappears from fashion pretty quickly.
These look like a great addition to the catalog!
this is how i want a cupcake to be.
simple and full of flavor
but more importantly, i love this kind of frosting.
Almost forget that cupcakes exist! This will be my dessert for Sunday! Specially frosting is one of my favorites. Vanilla + chocolate + unsalted butter for the win!
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let the fashionistas move on to the next sweet fad it just means more sprinkles available for us! gorgeous looking cupcakes!
I can’t wait to try these. When you refridgerate them should they be covered?
lisa, I would keep them in an airtight container.
Is there a trick to making the strawberry bits of the cupcakes less gooey? I cut the strawberries up and patted them with a paper towel, but there were still gooey pockets once they baked. These are so good, though, and the frosting DELICIOUS!
Do you think you could make this in a loaf pan instead of cupcakes?
Jody, I’ve not tried it, but it should translate well enough to a loaf pan. If you’re using a standard sized loaf pan, it probably won’t quite fill it to the top when you bake it. Also, the baking time may vary, so keep a close eye on it while it’s baking.