Vanilla cupcakes filled with homemade strawberry preserves and frosted with strawberry buttercream. These strawberry filled cupcakes are made completely from scratch and they're perfect for strawberry lovers!
Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Line a 12-cup pan with cupcake liners. This recipe makes 15 cupcakes so if you have a second pan, line three more.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. It should become light and fluffy.
½ cup unsalted butter, 1 cup sugar
Add the eggs and vanilla extract, then beat again on medium speed.
2 eggs, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Add in the sour cream, beating again until well combined.
½ cup sour cream
With the mixer running on your lowest speed, add the dry ingredients.
With the mixer still running on low, slowly pour in the buttermilk. Stop the mixer.
½ cup buttermilk
Use an ice cream scooper to fill each cupcake liner ⅔ full - do not fill it anymore or it will overflow when baking.
Bake for 20-23 minutes. A toothpick inserted will come out clean with no crumbs. Let cool completely.
Make Filling
In a small saucepan, add all of the filling ingredients and stir to combine so the strawberries are completely covered.
1 cup strawberries, 1 ½ tablespoon sugar, pinch salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon water
Heat over medium-high heat until it begins to boil. Once it begins to boil, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes until it has thickened.
Pour into a pan or tray, this means it will cool much faster.
Use a large piping tip to core out each cupcake, saving the top. You may need to use a knife or small spatula to dig out some of the cake in case the dip didn't go down far enough.
Fill each cupcake with some of the homemade preserves, then place the top back on.
Make Buttercream
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar together on low speed.
2 sticks unsalted butter, 3 cups powdered sugar
Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until it becomes thick.
Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, salt and strawberry powder and beat on medium-high
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon almond extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup freeze dried strawberries
Turn the mixer to low, and pour in the cream until it becomes creamy and spreadable.
¼ cup heavy cream
Use a 1M piping tip to frost each cupcake.
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Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. Just click on ‘metric’ above ingredients. Room Temperature: I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. I am using Diamond Crystal kosher salt and not Morton Salt which is much too salty! Oil: use a neutral oil like sunflower, canola or vegetable oil. You don't want anything with a strong taste! Strawberry Preserves: you can use storebought strawberry preserves if you don't want to make your own. Storing: keep the cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.Making ahead: you can make the homemade preserves and cupcakes a day ahead.