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Strawberry Buttercream Cupcakes – The Perfect Sweet Treat

These strawberry buttercream cupcakes use these two of my favorite flavors flavors and are the perfect dessert to tempt your loved one, (and yourself) on Valentine’s day (or any day for that matter!).

Cupcakes are a great choice to add to any party dessert table.

I love the taste of chocolate and strawberries. It’s decadent, but also fresh tasting and the two flavors just really seem to compliment each other. Plus I love to cook with fresh strawberries!

Don’t you just love using strawberries in desserts?  They are fresh and light on calories and so tasty. (See my gluten free strawberry oatmeal bars here.)

Since they are so plentiful right now, it’s the perfect time to use them in my recipe.

These strawberry buttercream cupcakes are the perfect sweet treat for Valentine's day or any special day. recipesjust4u.com

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These strawberry buttercream cupcakes are a special sweet treat that will delight your loved one.

If you love making 30 minute meals and desserts, these strawberry buttercream cupcakes will become a favorite.

Even though I love my husband dearly, he’s not getting homemade chocolate cupcakes on February 14 this year. But he is getting homemade strawberry buttercream frosting for them. 

Things are hectic for me right now and the frosting is the special part of this dessert, anyway, so this one is going to be a semi homemade treat by using a boxed cake mix for the cupcake part.

I used a Betty Crocker Super Moist Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix.chocolate cupcakes ready to frost

But the frosting! Why, that is made with LOVE. This strawberry buttercream is to die for!  I used frozen strawberries in mine and it worked perfectly.   Fresh ones work well too but are not necessary.  

12 ounces of strawberries will make more than you need for the buttercream frosting. (all you need is 1/4 cup in the frosting,  but I love a strawberry sauce on ice cream, so I made extra.)

strawberry buttercream cupcakes icing

The frosting is a lovely shade of pink with NO FOOD COLORING needed and tastes so lovely. It is light and fluffy with tiny bits of strawberries in it and such a pretty color.

Perfect for Valentine’s day!

To frost my cupcakes, I used an 18″ piping bag.  It has a nice triangular shape and is large enough to hold enough frosting for a whole batch of cupcakes.

decorating station

You can add a piping tip to the bag if you like, or just pipe straight from the icing bag. (I find it easy to do this and it saves washing the tips later.)

If you make the whole the right size, it is just a big ole squeeze and the top of the cupcake is decorated.  A zip lock baggie will do too, if you don’t have icing bags, or you can just frost with a knife.frosting for the strawberry buttercream cupcakes

Adding some love

It’s easy to add some Valentine’s day love to these cupcakes with Sweethearts candy.  They have a romantic message printed on them already!

Other ideas for decorating are to sprinkle the frosting with some heart shaped sprinkles, heart shaped gumdrops, pink and red sprinkles, or sugar crystals and you have a quick and easy Valentine’s day treat for your loved one.  

And shhhh…they do NOT need to know that you didn’t make the cake from scratch.

strawberry buttercream cupcakes

These strawberry buttercream cupcakes are rich and full of the taste of dark chocolate with a buttercream frosting that is just bursting with the flavor of fresh strawberries.

And the whimsical decorations on the top will put you in a Valentine’s day mood for sure!

What a delicious bite

Now the only problem will be, will it be one or two for dessert?  Awww…go on! It’s a special occasion!  You can work the calories off later. (wink, wink!!)

These strawberry buttercream cupcakes can be decorated so many different ways.

For another Valentine’s day treat, try these desserts. They are easy to do and so tasty.

Pin it for later

For a reminder of this post for these strawberry buttercream cupcakes, just pin this image to one of your cooking boards on Pinterest.

These chocolate cupcakes have a lovely fresh strawberry buttercream frosting. Super easy to make and so, so tasty! recipesjust4u.com

Admin note: This post for chocolate cupcakes with fresh strawberry frosting first appeared on the blog in February of 2016. I have updated the post to add a new printable recipe card and video for you to enjoy.

Yield: 18

Valentine's Day Strawberry Buttercream Cupcakes

strawberry buttercream cupcakes

These strawberry buttercream cupcakes are the perfect Valentine's Day sweet treat.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

for the cupcakes:

  • I Betty Crocker Super Moist Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix (plus ingredients as indicated on your box)
  • for the fresh strawberry buttercream:
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 12 oz. strawberries, fresh or frozen
  • 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3-1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 - 2 Tablespoons milk, if needed to thin out the frosting (I did not need any milk for mine)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Place paper liners in a muffin holder. Prepare and bake your cupcakes according to package directions.
  3. While the cupcakes are cooking, prepare the buttercream frosting.
  4. Cook the strawberries in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until they have broken down into a sauce.
  5. Mash well with a potato masher.
  6. Simmer until the sauce reduces a bit. You will need 1/4 cup of the strawberry mixture for the frost. You can use the extra strawberry puree later to top ice cream!
  7. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter won medium high speed about 2 minutes, until it is a bit fluffy.
  8. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar, the 1/4 cup of cooled strawberry sauce, the lemon juice, and salt.
  9. Mix until smooth. Add another 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If the frosting is too thick, add some milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
  10. Cut a hole in a zip lock baggie and, if desired, fit a pastry bag with a medium-large round tip - a Wilton #12 works well, and fill with fresh strawberry buttercream. (You can also frost with a knife if you don't have the decorating supplies.)
  11. Pipe the strawberry buttercream frosting on the top each cupcake.
  12. Repeat until the cupcakes are done.
  13. Sprinkle with small heart shaped sprinkles, funfetti sprinkles or pink sugar crystals.
  14. Top with conversation hearts. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1 cupcake

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 199Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 47mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 29gProtein: 1g

Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission from the sale, but the price is the same for you. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

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