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Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes
Muffins & Cupcakes

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

By Mary SusanPrep 45 min · Cook 25 min
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The most amazing strawberries and cream cupcakes you’ll ever have. These vanilla cupcakes are stuffed with custard and topped with strawberry buttercream and whipped cream.

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Story Behind the Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

When I started this blog, I was mostly into baking and decorating cakes. My little cake business kept me extremely busy until I had my fifth child. With the arrival of baby number five, I became a little TOO busy to keep up with my side hustle. Eventually, I decided to scale back. In fact, just this year I have said no to all cake orders.

Even though I was decorating four to five cakes a week, I found that my creativity was stifled. Usually a customer would send me a picture of what they were envisioning and I would try to recreate it. It got to the point where my love of baking and creating was waning.

After I quit taking orders, I found that I missed piping. I decided I would try my hand at making gourmet cupcakes patterned after my favorite cupcake shop, Cravings Alisha’s Cupcakes. My creations were not only beautiful, but there were absolutely delicious. My cupcakes kept finding their way to friends birthday parties and the reviews were great.

These particular strawberries and cream cupcakes were sent to my best friend’s house for her son’s first birthday. Unfortunately, I was out of town for a funeral and couldn’t attend. I received so many texts from the people in attendance saying that they loved these cupcakes. Even my husband, who doesn’t really care for fruity desserts, has requested these on more than one occasion.

F.A.Q.S for Cupcakes

I refuse to use a box cake mix, can I use a different cake recipe?

You can absolutely make a vanilla cake from scratch. However, I have been in the “it’s better homemade” boat too. Give this cake recipe a try. I promise you won’t be able to tell the difference because it’s that good.

What can I make ahead of time?

The custard needs to be made AT LEAST one day in advance. As the custard cools in the fridge, it thickens. A thick custard is exactly what you need, and you won’t get that making it the day of. The strawberry buttercream and stabilized whipped cream can also be made a day in advance. Since each of these recipes contain dairy, you will need to keep them refrigerated.

What jam do you recommend using for the buttercream?

I always use this jam that I purchase at Costco. It has such great strawberry flavor and big chunks of real strawberries. You can use whichever jam you want, but I would steer clear of Smucker’s as that’s not going to give you a good ‘real’ strawberry flavor.

My cores fell apart as I was coring them, what should I do?

That’s okay! Some of mine do that too. I just gather as much cake as I can and put some on top of the custard. If it doesn’t look pretty, that’s just fine. It will eventually be covered up with frosting and cream anyways.

Frosting and whipped cream on top?! Isn’t that a little much?

I have to admit it does sound like a lot, but it works. However, you will see in the pictures that mine are actually missing the cream. I made these for a large conference and we ran out of cream. I called an audible and we just went with it. While these are delicious without the cream, they are even more amazing with the cream.

What is stabilized whipped cream?

Stabilized whipped cream is made with gelatin. This allows the whipped cream to remain whipped for more than a day. If you have ever made whipped cream before, you have probably noticed that the following day it becomes runny. That is not with case with stabilized whipped cream because it will remain beautifully whipped.

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Recipe

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

The most amazing strawberries and cream cupcakes you’ll ever have. These vanilla cupcakes are stuffed with custard and topped with strawberry buttercream and whipped cream.

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Prep
45 min
Cook
25 min
Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 box vanilla cake mix (15.25 oz)
  • ⅔ cup sour cream
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 whole egg

For the Custard

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5 egg yolks
  • dash of sea salt

For the Frosting

  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • ¾ cup strawberry jam
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tbsp milk if needed for consistency

For the Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • 1½ tsp unflavored gelatin
  • 1 tbsp cold water

Instructions

  1. 1Preheat the oven to 325°.
  2. 2Line a cupcake pan with tulip cupcake liners. Using this type of liner will allow you to get a bigger cupcake which is easier to fill.
  3. 3In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, buttermilk, eggs, oil, and sour cream. DO NOT ADD INGREDIENTS ON THE BACK OF THE BOX.
  4. 4Fill your tulip cupcake liners with ½ cup of cake batter.
  5. 5Bake for 22-25 minutes or until cake bounces back in the center.
  6. 6Cool completely before following the instructions for assembly.
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For the Custard

  1. 7This needs to be made at least 1 day ahead to allow for the custard to cool and thicken in the fridge.
  2. 8Preheat oven to 300°
  3. 9Crack and separate eggs (save the whites for the cake!). Whisk the eggs in a medium sized mixing bowl and set aside.
  4. 10In a saucepan, heat the 2 cups of whipping cream until it starts to bubble around the edges. DON'T LET IT BOIL.
  5. 11Once the cream starts to bubble, remove it from the heat.
  6. 12Slowly add ¼ cup of cream at a time to the eggs while whisking. Don't stop whisking. Continue to add the remaining cream until it is all combined with the eggs.
  7. 13Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps. Pour into an 8x8 pan.
  8. 14Put the 8x8 pan inside of a large 9x13 pan. Pour water into the larger pan until it comes about halfway up to the smaller pan.
  9. 15Bake for 45-50 minutes. The center will still be a little jiggly. Remove from the oven and let it come to room temperature.
  10. 16Pour the custard into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is actually touching the custard. This will help prevent a skin forming on the custard. Refrigerate overnight before using in the cupcakes.

For the Buttercream

  1. 17In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, whip butter until smooth.
  2. 18Add jam and half of the powdered sugar. Mix until combined.
  3. 19Add remaining powdered sugar and whip on high for 2 minutes.
  4. 20Scrape down sides of bowl and mix again until all butter and sugar is incorporated.
  5. 21If the frosting is too thick, you may add 1-2 tbsp of milk to thin it out to the consistency you desire.

For the Whipped Cream

  1. 22In a small bowl, combine cold water with gelatin. Mix with a spoon until combined. Let set for 5 minutes, or until congealed.
  2. 23In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine whipping cream and powdered sugar.
  3. 24Mix until it starts to get thick, but not stiff.
  4. 25Microwave the gelatin mixture for 5 seconds, or until it turns liquid again. Then slowly add in the gelatin mixture while the mixer is on low and whip until stiff peaks form.

Assembling the Cupcakes

  1. 26Core the center of the cupcake out using a cupcake corer, large cake decorating tip, or a spoon. Save the cores on a plate and set aside.
  2. 27Add about 2 tbsp worth of chilled custard to the center of the cupcake. Cover with a cupcake core.
  3. 28Use a piping bag to pipe the strawberry buttercream on top.
  4. 29Top with the stabilized whipped cream and a strawberry. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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