A favorite spring and summer dessert in hand-held form, these vanilla bean-speckled strawberry shortcake cupcakes are filled with homemade strawberry filling and topped with strawberry whipped cream—all made with real strawberries. It’s like eating strawberry shortcake, but as a buttery soft cupcake!
. I also made some small improvements to the recipe, which are reflected in the printable recipe below.
I’ve been on a filled cupcake kick! I love these chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes for Valentine’s Day, and always enjoy hopping over to these coconut and chocolate Easter cupcakes… but as the days continue to warm up, and fresh strawberries come into season, I just knew I had to revisit this older recipe. These are my beloved strawberry shortcake cupcakes.
Or if you happen to have a vanilla bean (an extra one leftover from making homemade vanilla extract, perhaps?), you can scrape the seeds from half a bean, and add along with vanilla extract, just like when making my regular vanilla cupcakes. You can also add vanilla bean seeds to the whipped cream. See recipe Note below.
The process for making these cupcakes is straightforward. Whisk together dry ingredients, whisk together wet ingredients, and then combine the two.
With a sharp knife, cut a circle in the cupcake and remove the center, which will be roughly the shape of a cone. Using a small spoon, fill the middle of the cupcake with as much cooled strawberry filling as you can. (Usually between 1–2 teaspoons.) Slice/tear off the pointed tip of the cone-shaped piece of cupcake, and gently press the round piece back on top of the filling.
It doesn’t have to look pretty, because you’ll top the cupcakes with a fluffy cloud of strawberry whipped cream. I don’t recommend using a piping bag/tip to fill the cupcakes, because the filling is pretty thick and chunky.
Now you’re in the home stretch! Of the 3 parts to this recipe, making the strawberry whipped cream topping is the quickest and easiest. It’s similar to my classic homemade whipped cream, but we’re folding in the reserved 1/2 cup of strawberry filling for a little more flavor, color, and texture. I love the little chunks of strawberry hiding in the light pink whipped cream.
Pile the strawberry whipped cream on top of the filled cupcakes, and, for a finishing touch, I like to add a couple of strawberry slices. You will LOVE these!
Absolutely, and I already have a separate recipe for strawberry shortcake cake. For a layer cake, use my white cake recipe, and today’s strawberry filling. Fill the cooled cake layers with most of the strawberry filling, and save some to fold into the whipped cream. There is plenty of whipped cream for the exterior of the layer cake.
You're looking at 100% homemade strawberry shortcake, but in cupcake form! Homemade strawberry filling joins vanilla bean cupcakes and berry-speckled whipped cream to create an epic treat that's perfectly fit for spring and summertime. Prepare the strawberry filling first so it has time to cool and thicken before using. Review recipe Notes before beginning.
