These moist strawberry cupcakes are filled with refreshing lemon curd and frosted with a light and delicious strawberry cream cheese frosting. The ingredient list is simple and are ready in under an hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer (you can also use a hand mixer). Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl midway. Mixture will be fluffy and very pale yellow.
Beat in lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon oil, and eggs. Beat for 2 minutes longer.
Measure the flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a separate bowl and whisk together.
In another small bowl, whisk together milk, mayonnaise and lemon juice.
Add ⅓ of the milk mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until combined. Add in ½ of the flour mixture, mixing briefly. Add in another ⅓ of the milk mixture, the remaining flour, and then the remaining milk mixture.
Beat just enough between each addition to incorporate the ingredients, but do not overmix.
Transfer batter to the prepared muffin tins - filling ⅔ of the way full.
Bake for 17 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cupcakes comes out with just a few crumbs.
After 3 minutes of cooling, transfer cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Use a serrated spoon or piping tip to scoop out a small portion (about 1 teaspoon) of the top of each cooled cupcake.
Use a piping bag, ziploc bag with corner snipped off, or a squeeze bottle to fill each cavity with lemon curd.
Strawberry Frosting
Bring the chopped strawberries to a boil and sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of sugar.
As the strawberries cook, use a potato masher to break them down to be as close to a puree as possible. Stir frequently as it continues to simmer and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Cook for 10 minutes or until the puree has reduced by half, which will yield a ½ cup of fresh strawberry puree when finished.
Remove the puree from the heat and cool to room temperature by chilling in the fridge.
Beat the softened cream cheese and butter until it's light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and continue mixing.
In batches, mix in 5 cups of confectioners' sugar.
Beat in the cooled strawberry reduction. Transfer to a piping bag to decorate if desired.
Notes
Use this recipe to make the lemon curd.Here's the full tutorial for making strawberry cream cheese frosting.