If you love making easy cupcakes, you’ll love this Strawberry Cupcake Recipe with Cake Mix. This shortcut recipe uses freeze dried strawberries so you can enjoy them year round, even when it’s not strawberry season.
1box Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake Mix15.25 oz (This cake is light and moist, but you can also use a yellow cake box mix)
1cupwhite chocolate chipsoptional You can use mini chocolate chips or regular chocolate chips as well
3eggs
½cupof milk
½cupwater
¾cupstrawberry jamyour favorite one, I used Smucker’s
Strawberry Buttercream
½cuppowdered freeze-dried strawberries
3cupspowdered sugar
1cup2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2teaspoonsmilkyou can use whole milk or cream also
½teaspoonvanilla extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare your cupcake pan by greasing it, or use paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl combine the cake mix and the chocolate chips. Mix well.
In a medium bowl, combine eggs, water, milk, and jam. Mix until they are all combined.
Pour into the flour mixture, with a hand mixer, on low speed, mix until the flour is all incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. You can also use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Pour the cupcake batter mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 14 to 17 minutes. Your time may vary with a different cake mix. To make sure it is cooked, I insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean, it is cooked.
Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the Strawberry Buttercream
Powdered the freeze-Dried strawberries. I put them in a blender, and pulse until I have a powder, though you could also use a mini food processor.
In a medium-size bowl, mix the powdered sugar and the powdered strawberries. Mix until the powdered strawberries are well mixed in with the sugar. Set aside
In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, cream butter until nice and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes
Add the milk and keep mixing until the milk and the butter are combined (20 seconds)
Add about a third of the sugar mixture and carefully mix to combine sugar with butter mixture.
Repeat step 5 until you have used all the sugar.
Stop mixing once the ingredients are all well combined.
To frost cupcakes
You can frost the cupcakes in different ways:
Put frosting in a piping bag with a tip of your choice and pipe the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a Ziplock bag. Put the frosting in the bag and cut the corner. If the frosting comes out as a thin string, you'll need to make the cut a little larger. I usually cut around ½ inch or less.
Use an offset spatula or a butter knife and spread the frosting on top of the cupcakes.
Decorate to your wish. You can leave them as is, add some fresh strawberries on top, more freeze-dried strawberries, or even some fun sprinkles
This cake is light and moist, but you can also use a yellow cake box mix.Disregard the box mix instructions and use the recipe card instructions outlined.I used the piping tip from Sunny Side up Bakery (you can get it at Hobby Lobby)
Notes
This cake is light and moist, but you can also use a yellow cake box mix.Disregard the box mix instructions and use the recipe card instructions outlined.I used the piping tip from Sunny Side up Bakery (you can get it at Hobby Lobby)