Strawberry Filled Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting have strawberry jam in the batter and strawberry puree in the center for double the strawberry taste. Don’t stop there, add freeze dried strawberries to a cream cheese frosting for a triple dose of strawberries – and a beautiful pink color.
Triple Strawberry Cupcakes with Filling
Three layers of strawberry. Zero regrets.
Strawberry season is short where I live. Blink and it’s over. One minute I’m elbow-deep in jam, and the next I’m standing in front of empty grocery store shelves wondering if I imagined it.
So these cupcakes? They’re my way of stretching strawberry season into whenever I need a little berry magic. And here’s the best part—you don’t need perfect, fresh-off-the-vine strawberries to make them. Fresh, frozen, even freeze-dried… we’re using them all.
This recipe goes all in on the strawberry. I’m talking puree in the batter, jam mixed in for good measure, and a creamy filling loaded with berries. Then just when you think you’re done? Boom. There’s strawberry cream cheese frosting with freeze-dried berries whipped right in.
If you’ve ever made my strawberry cake or those frosted shortcakes, you already know we don’t do bland strawberry desserts around here.
Why These Are Worth the Effort
The cake
It’s not just pink and pretty. It’s got flavor. Real flavor. Between the jam and the puree, it’s like a strawberry exploded (in the best way). Honestly, even without the filling, these cupcakes are fantastic.
The filling
It’s like a homemade strawberry jam crossed with custard. It’s creamy. Tangy. Bright. And it keeps the center soft and moist without turning into a sticky mess.
The frosting
I love buttercream, but seriously, cream cheese frosting is my favorite. It’s smooth, not too sweet, and with ground freeze-dried strawberries in the mix, it turns a perfect shade of pink and tastes like fresh berries.
If you’re not in the mood to mess with filling cupcakes, skip that step. You’ll still get ridiculously good cupcakes. But when you want a cupcake that makes people pause mid-bite and ask what’s in it? Go all in.
Ingredients You’ll need to make the Best Cupcakes
Here’s the rundown of what matters most. For all the details and amounts, just scroll to the recipe card below.
Strawberries – fresh or frozen, either one works. You’ll puree them, so don’t stress about perfection.
Strawberry jam – folded right into the batter for double the berry flavor.
Freeze-dried strawberries – trust me on this. They bring the frosting to life.
Let’s Make Them
Step 1: Start with the filling
Make this first so it has time to chill for 2 hours.
Step 2: Bake the cupcakes
Step 3: Fill ’em up
Step 4: Make that dreamy frosting
Frost with a knife or use a piping bag to pipe on a cool design.
A Few Tips to Keep Things Smooth
- Use room temp ingredients when baking.
- Chill the frosting before piping if it feels too soft.
- Don’t core too deep. You want room for filling but still enough structure to keep the cupcake together.
- Keep them in the fridge. They’ll stay fresh and the filling won’t melt into a puddle.
How to Store Strawberry Cupcakes
Filled cupcakes belong in the fridge. Keep them in an airtight container and they’ll be good for 3 to 5 days.
Whether you’re baking for spring, summer, a birthday, or just because your last cupcake was kind of a letdown, these strawberry-filled beauties are here to make things right.
They’re soft, sweet, tangy, creamy, and honestly—kind of everything I want in a cupcake.
So go ahead. Make the filling. Or don’t. But promise me you’ll at least make the frosting.
Don’t Forget!
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Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup strawberry jam
- 4 eggs room temp
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 16 ounces fresh/frozen strawberries thawed and pureed
- ½ cup buttermilk room temp
FILLING
- 32 ounces fresh/frozen strawberries thawed and drained
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 6 egg yolks lightly beaten
- ½ cup butter cut into 1 inch pieces
FROSTING
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temp
- ½ cup butter room temp
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup freeze dried strawberries ground in food processor, about 1/2 cup
Instructions
- FILLING
- Puree 32 ounces of fresh or frozen strawberries in a food processor. In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, strawberry puree, lemon juice and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until very thick, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until melted. Let cool slightly, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350º. Line 24 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Puree 16 ounces of fresh or frozen strawberries in a food processor.
- In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in strawberry jam. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternately with strawberry puree, beginning and ending with flour. Beat until well combined. Add buttermilk beating to combine. Spoon into muffin tins, filling 3/4’s full. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on wire wrack.
- FROSTING
- In a food processor, grind the dried strawberries. Add cream cheese and butter and process until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and process until smooth.
- Using a cupcake corer or melon baller, scoop out about 1 tablespoon of cake from the center of each cupcake. Fill with strawberry filling. Top with frosting.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients when baking.
- If you are going to use a piping bag and tips to decorate, place the frosting in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so to let the cream cheese and butter cool down. This will make it easier to get pretty designs.
- Don’t remove too much of the core of the cupcake or it will fall apart once you’ve taken a bite.
- Keep the cupcakes refrigerated.
Nutrition
I first published this recipe for Strawberry Cupcakes on my Southern food blog Butter and Baggage.
