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Twelve frosted strawberry cupcakes on a white board garnished with sliced strawberries.

Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

Celebrate summertime and Canada Day with red and white Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes. Vanilla infused cupcakes are filled with a fresh strawberry jam, piped with swirls of whipped cream cheese frosting and topped with fresh strawberries. Bite into a cupcake and the juicy strawberry filling spews out of the centre providing so much strawberry goodness!

Course brunch, Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

Vanilla Cupcakes

  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ cup warm tap water last addition

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting and Garnish

  • 250 g cream cheese brick at room temperature
  • ¾ cup icing sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla instant pudding
  • 2 cups 35% whipping cream cold
  • 10 fresh strawberries with bloom attached halved vertically, for garnish

Strawberry Jam Filling

  • 2 tablespoons strawberry jam
  • 2 cups finely diced fresh strawberries

Instructions

Make Vanilla Cupcakes

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin tins by lining the cups with paper liners.

  2. Whisk dry ingredients, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.

  3. In a large bowl with a mixer at medium-high speed, beat eggs and sugar for 2 minutes, until creamy and bubbles are evident. Add oil, vanilla and milk and beat again for 1 minute until smooth.

  4. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add in the flour mixture and beat until combined.

  5. Add the warm water and beat until batter is smooth, thins out, and has no lumps. Let the batter sit in the mixing bowl at room temperature for 10 minutes to thicken slightly.

  6. Evenly fill each cupcake liner with batter almost to the rim (a rounded ¼ cup of batter). Bake for 18 – 22 minutes until very lightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 2 minutes before un-molding to a rack to cool completely.

Make Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

  1. In a large bowl with a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at high speed, for 2 – 3 minutes, until smooth.

  2. Stop the mixer and add the icing sugar, pudding mix and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed then gradually increase the speed until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Pop the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill.

  3. Switch to the whisk attachment and gradually add about ½ cup of the cream at a time while beating on low speed until the mixture starts to loosen and combine. Once all the cream is added and combined, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until it thickens and stiff peaks form. When you lift up the beaters the frosting should hold its own shape.

  4. Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip, and refrigerate the bag while preparing the next steps.

Make Strawberry Jam Filling

  1. Just before ready to fill the cupcakes, in a medium bowl add the jam and finely diced strawberries and gently stir to combine.

Fill, Frost and Garnish

  1. To create the cavities for the filling, use a melon baller, small spoon or knife to scoop out some of the centers of each cupcake to create a deep cavity, about the size of a tablespoon. Fill holes with about 1 tablespoon or more of the strawberry filling, filling it right to the top of the cupcakes.

  2. Pipe the tops of each cupcake generously with the frosting. Top each cupcake with a strawberry half. Keep cupcakes refrigerated until needed and remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

Recipe Notes

  1. Fill cupcake liners with batter almost to the rim without overfilling; use a cookie dough scoop or pastry bag to evenly divide the batter.
  2. Don’t over bake; cupcakes are done when very lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, plus cool them completely before filling and frosting.
  3. For the frosting, use a name brand brick cream cheese at room temperature (like Philadelphia), and make sure the 35% cream is kept really cold right until you need it.
  4. Only use fresh strawberries for the filling and garnish.
  5. Save the centers of the cupcakes that are dug out, they’re great for a snack and you can pair them with leftover strawberry filling and whipped topping leftovers.
  6. I used a large piping bag with Wilton 1M star tip to frost the cupcakes, but if you don’t have a piping bag and tip, you can just spread dollops of frosting on top of the cupcakes with a spatula.
  7. Enjoy the cupcakes the day you assemble them for the freshest flavour and texture.
  8. For make ahead, serving, storage and freezing tips, read those sections in the blog post.