Strawberry Cupcakes; sometimes all you need is a simple Strawberry Cupcake, baked with sweet, fresh seasonal strawberries. Then other times you need a little extra POW to your Strawberry Cupcakes, stuffed with a fresh strawberry centre and a hidden Oreo cookie base. I know which one I need and I know which one you need!
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
Who doesn’t love a surprise? | Especially when it’s a double whammy. These Strawberry Cupcakes are divine on their own but when you add the crunch of an Oreo cookie to the base and the soft fresh taste of a fresh baked strawberry to the centre it really takes them to new heights.
It’s Strawberry Season | There is a reason why fruit and vegetables taste so much better when they are in season and strawberries are possibly one of the best at their prime. When a strawberry is out of season it can often taste a bit bland and watery which is no fun for anyone, but when they are freshly picked from the strawberry fields, there is no better taste which is exactly what we want in these cupcakes.
A great summer inspired treat | In the UK especially strawberries are synonymous with summer! Its the season of strawberries and cream (Try my Strawberries and Cream Muffins) and just one taste reminds me of a warm summer evening in the garden.
HOW TO HIDE THE STRAWBERRY AND OREO SURPRISE
Not one but two surprises! I mean these strawberry cupcakes are seriously spoiling you today and their pretty good at hide and seek aren’t they. From the outside they’re very well concealed, so how is it done?
The Oreo base is super easy. All you need to do is make sure the base of each cupcake case has an Oreo placed at the bottom before you add any cupcake batter. During baking the batter rises around the Oreo like a big giant hug so there is no risk of it detaching when you remove the cupcake from the cases.
The Strawberry centre is equally as simple. Once the batter has been evenly added to each of the cupcake cases you just need to push a strawberry with the stalk removed into the centre of the cupcake batter. The strawberries will release some water into the cupcake so you may notice it feels a little wet if you test your cupcakes with a skewer after baking. As long as your tops are golden and springy your cupcakes are done so they won’t need any extra baking.
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM
These cupcakes have a traditional American Buttercream which uses softened butter and icing sugar as the main ingredients. I love to add vanilla to the mixture to enhance the flavour of any additional flavouring I’m incorporating and in these Strawberry Cupcakes case, that flavour is of course Strawberry.
The difficulty with making fruity buttercream is that fresh fruit releases a lot of water which can result in a VERY sloppy mixture. You can counteract the sloppiness by adding tons more icing sugar but this only make the icing sweeter and takes away all that strawberry flavour, and that’s even if the strawberries have much flavour as if they’re under ripe they won’t have much flavour at all.
So instead of risking all the above I use my holy grail, freeze dried strawberries. Firstly they are packed with intense strawberry flavour so there is no risk of the buttercream being flavourless. Secondly, they can be ground into powder so no sloppy buttercream. Grinding the freeze dried strawberries means that they are easily added with the icing sugar, plus they also tint the buttercream a lovely shade of pink so there is no need for any food colouring.
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE THESE STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES
Food processor | Food processors are the perfect little kitchen tool for blitzing small ingredients such as nuts and the freeze dried strawberries in this recipe. I think my processor may be one of most used tools and I literally couldn’t be without it.
Cupcake tin | This recipe is for 12 cupcakes so I would recommend a 12 hole cupcake tin. However if you prefer a smaller tin you can also buy 6 hole cupcake tins which are equally handy if you wanted to half the batch into just 6 cupcakes.
Piping bag | Piping bags come in all shapes and sizes. You can purchase fabric ones which can be washed and reused endlessly. These are fantastic as they also avoid a lot of waste. You can also purchase disposable ones and I find the Lakeland heavy duty bags perfect when I am baking a large batch of cupcakes. If I’m baking a smaller batch then I find the Tala clear piping bags a great size.
Open Star piping nozzle | If I could name 3 nozzles I use endlessly in the kitchen it would be the round tip, the closed star and the open star. Each nozzle has so many amazing uses from piping buttercream, batter, meringues, and macarons. They’re the perfect line up for any new baker starting out in the kitchen.
SHOP THESE TOOLS
OTHER STRAWBERRY BAKES YOU SHOULD TRY
Strawberries and Cream Muffins
I would love it if you tagged me @mykitchendrawer on Instagram if you make these Strawberry Cupcakes. It’s the biggest honour to see my recipes come to life in your kitchen and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a message. Happy baking!
Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 150 g butter softened
- 150 g golden caster sugar
- 3 eggs large
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 12 fresh ripe strawberries
- 12 oreo biscuits
For the strawberry buttercream
- 150 g butter softened
- 250 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g freeze dried strawberries plus extra for dusting
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Line a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases and preheat your oven to 160°C
- Put an Oreo cookie at the base of each cupcake case and leave it to one side
- Cream the butter and sugar into a large bowl until light and fluffy
- Add the eggs, vanilla and flour all at once and beat it in until just combined
- Spoon a tablespoon of the cupcake batter on top of the oreo biscuit in each cupcake case.
- Remove the stalks from the strawberries and push a strawberry upside down into the centre of each cupcake
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and springy. The strawberries will release some water so if you insert a skewer to test if they're cooked you may notice a little moisture inside. Leave them to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, the remove and leave on a wire rack until completely cooled.
For the strawberry buttercream
- Cream the butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy
- Add the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time and beat it into the butter until well combined
- Blitz the freeze dried strawbrries into a food processor until its a fine powder then add it gradually. You might not need to add it all, if you want a paler pink colour add less, and if you want it richer add it all. The less you add will obviously impact the flavour intensity.
- Fill a piping bag with a open star nozzle and fill the it with the strawberry buttercream. Pipe swirls of the buttercream onto each cupcake then sprinkle them with any remaining freeze dried strawberry powder.
