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These cute Strawberry Watermelon Cupcakes are moist, easy to make, and are full of strawberry flavor! If you are looking for a new Summer dessert, this is it! Imagine enjoying sitting on the porch and noshing on a cupcake that has frosting that is full of fresh strawberries that you recently picked from the garden. I mean is there anything any better?
Strawberry Watermelon Cupcakes
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing better than a regular cupcake with plain frosting. However, when you add real strawberries into the frosting, watermelon flavoring oil and real butterfat butter into the frosting, and top the frosting with sprinkles, you are in for a real treat!
Of course, if you love strawberries then you must try our Fruit Sangria. However, if you are more of a lemonade fan, our Elderflower Lemonade is exactly what you are craving.
Why Make This Recipe
Easy - you can use store-bought cake mix
Versatile - you can omit the sprinkles, the flavoring oil, and change up the sprinkles
Delicious - what can be better than moist cupcakes with pureed fresh fruit?
What You'll Need
You will find the detailed ingredients listed in the recipe card below.
Expert Tips, Ingredient List and Suggestions for Recipe Success
Cake mix - you can use store-bought cake mix or make your own from scratch. You can even use store-bought cupcakes that aren't frosted.
Frosting - you can make homemade or you can use canned frosting and add powdered sugar to it to stiffen it up.
Strawberries - fresh or frozen
Flavoring oil - you don't need to use this, however, it really brings the flavor to a new level.
Butter - make sure to use unsalted REAL butter.
You may be asking why it's so important to use not only unsalted butter but REAL butter. First of all, let's talk about why you need to use unsalted butter.
The problem with using salted butter is that it adds a lot of extra salt to your recipe, which is something you really don't want in a sweet recipe. If you are making a recipe from scratch and you are not only adding salt BUT adding salted butter, you are actually adding double the amount of salt to your recipe. And unfortunately as we all know, you can't remove too much salt once you've added it.
When you use unsalted butter, you can control the amount of salt you are adding to your recipe. It's the only type of butter to use when making dessert. Personally, I prefer to use it anytime I make anything that calls for butter. That way I can add salt the recipe to my liking.
Now, let's talk about using real butter. I know there are some that say that all butter is the same. My friends, it's not. There is a big difference when it comes to the types of butter that is available. If you are looking for a rich and creamy taste when you are baking, you want to use REAL butter. You do NOT want to use any type of butter that contains oil such as canola. Now don't get me wrong, I have used it before, however, it's not what you want to use.
I have used unsalted butter for a long time and thought all unsalted butters were made the same. Recently, that theory was proven wrong when I was introduced to Minerva Diary. If you haven't had a chance to try butter from this 125 yr old dairy in Ohio then you don't know what you are missing! Here are some cool facts about them.
- Their butter is 85% butterfat butter which is creamier, richer, and more flavorful.
- The butter is slow-churned in small batches.
- They use only the freshest cream from pasture-raised cows on American family farms.
- They are America’s oldest family-owned creamery.
And they just don't make unsalted butter, they also have the following flavor combinations:
- Sea Salt
- Garlic Herb - this by the way is AMAZING on fresh bread
- Pumpkin Spice
- Maple Syrup
- Smoked Maple Wood
Step by Step Directions
You will find the complete directions to make these watermelon flavored cupcakes below.
Step 1: Preheat the oven and prepare the muffin tin.
Step 2: Make the cake batter.
Step 3: Bake and cool the cupcakes.
Step 4: Make the frosting.
Step 5: Frost the cupcakes
Step 6: Add the sprinkles.
Step 7: Enjoy!
FAQ About the Recipe
The most important thing to keep in mind when making cupcakes is that you must store them in an air-tight container after you decorate them. You can't leave them out on the counter or they will dry out.
No or they will overfill the baking liner. Never fill the muffin tin more than ⅔ full or spoon out more than 3 tbsp. of batter into a tin.
One of the main reasons your cupcakes turn out dry is because you have overbaked them. The key to making a cupcake or cake is to start checking the cupcake right at the beginning of the approximate time then go from there. If the time says 15 - 20 minutes. Do the toothpick or cake tester taste at 15 minutes then continue at 3 minute intervals until the toothpick comes out clean.
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Strawberry Watermelon Cupcakes
Equipment
- 2 piping bags
- Ateco tip
- Hand Mixer
- Cupcake liners
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- 1 box Strawberry cake mix
- Ingredients to make cake mix
- 4 - 6 c powdered sugar
- 4 fresh strawberries diced and pureed
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- .0125 dram Watermelon flavoring oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven according to the directions on the box.
- Line the muffin tin with cupcake liners or silicone liners.
- In a large mixing bowl, prepare the batter according to the directions on the box and add in the Watermelon flavoring oil.
- Using a tablespoon, spoon out 3 tablespoon of batter and add it into each cupcake liner.
- Place the muffin pan into the oven for 15 - 20 minutes (or according to the directions on the box). Start checking the cupcakes at the 15 minute mark by sticking a toothpick or cake tester into the center of the cupcake.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the cupcakes set in the tin for 10 minutes. The remove the cupcakes from the pan and let them finish cooling on a wire rack.
- While they are cooling, make the frosting.
- Puree the strawberries in a blender.
- Then in a large bowl, add in the powder sugar, vanilla, butter, and the strawberries. Start the mixer on low and mix all of the ingredients together.
- Your goal when mixing this together is a thick yet pipeable frosting. Add more powdered sugar as needed.
- Once you get the desired consistency, add the the tip into the piping bag and push it into the bottom of the bag. Then trim off the bottom of the bag so the tip comes through. Then add the frosting into the piping bag. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcake and add the sprinkles.
- Enjoy!
This was originally a sponsored post on Fun Country Life for Minerva Dairy in April 2021.
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