Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes – Easy & Moist

These simple vegan strawberry cupcakes are packed with fresh strawberries and filled with easy to make strawberry jam! They are fluffy, soft, easy to make and honestly so delicious. They are a perfect dessert for all strawberry lovers and also make a lovely gift for your loved ones; they will make your special days feel even more special. Enjoy these fluffy bites on special occasions like Valentine’s Day or birthday parties!

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Every year when the spring and summer season comes, there is nothing more superb than baking with pretty and fresh strawberries. Don’t you agree? Today I would like to show my love for baking by presenting you with these vegan strawberry cupcakes! Isn’t the vibrant and beautiful pink/red colour so tempting? It makes me want to grab it and take a bite right now!

Biting into the smooth and creamy strawberry buttercream frosting and the soft and fluffy cupcakes is a pure delight. And the centre of the cupcakes is stuffed with easy-to-make strawberry jam, which makes the cupcakes extra delicious! With each bite comes an irresistibly sweet, delicious, and fresh burst of strawberries that builds and builds as you wolf this special treat down. 

These cupcakes prove that you don’t need any eggs, dairy butter or cream to craft amazing baked goods that are decadent, sweet, and rich. Preparation is super simple too, the only fancy ingredient you need is a bunch of fresh, seasonal strawberries and the rest should be in your cupboard already! This recipe is definitely the best alternative to traditional non-vegan cupcakes. 

Main ingredients and substitutions

Plain flour: I used some regular plain flour to achieve a nice and fluffy texture. If you want to make this recipe gluten-free, use a 1:1 gluten-free blend!

Granulated sugar: I used plain white granulated sugar but you can also use caster sugar too. If you use sugar that has richer flavours and colours like brown sugar or coconut sugar, the texture and taste of the final product might be slightly different.

Strawberries: We need lots of strawberries to make these cupcakes! Use sweet and fresh strawberries with nice red/pink colour for the best result. If you are using frozen strawberries, thaw them first and measure them correctly with a digital scale. I think You can also use other berries to make these cupcakes such as blackberries or blueberries!

Vegetable oil: Vegetable oil is added to achieve a moist and soft texture in these cupcakes. Use vegetable oil with no flavour so that it won’t interfere with the strawberry flavour! You can also use other oils such as canola oil, sunflower oil, melted refined coconut oil, etc. if you like.

Cornflour: I added some cornflour to the batter to improve the texture of the cupcakes and used some in the strawberry jam filling to thicken! You can also use potato flour or tapioca flour.

Vegan butter: I used Naturli’s vegan butter to make the buttercream frosting. It makes a lovely buttercream! 

Freeze-dried strawberries: I added freeze-dried strawberries in the cupcakes and strawberry buttercream to add more colour and a nice flavour and texture.

Icing sugar: Icing sugar is used to sweeten the buttercream frosting!

Soy cream: I use soy single cream/whipping cream instead of plant milk in my buttercream recipes almost every time. It makes the buttercream incredibly soft, creamy, and fluffy! If you don’t have plant single cream or whipping cream, use plant milk instead but add carefully one tablespoon at one time and check the consistency as you add. The texture of the buttercream should be firm enough to make frosting but creamy and soft enough to pipe it out.

Other ingredients: Vanilla, baking powder and baking soda.

*I use bone char-free sugars for all of my recipes. I cover the topic in my article Vegan Baking 101. Go to the “Is sugar vegan?” section to learn more!

Recommended equipment for this recipe

Cupcake tin: I used my 9 cupcake tray for this recipe! You can use one made of metal or silicone, whichever you prefer.

Cupcake cups: muffin/cupcake cups make it so much easier to take them out of the tin when they are baked so I like using them. I also think cupcakes are cuter in them too! If you don’t have any you can bake without them too. Make sure to grease inside the tin with a thin layer of oil or vegan butter before pouring the batter.

Piping bag and star tip: I used a fairly big piping bag and a star tip for this recipe. Fee free to use any shape for the tip!

Cupcake corer: I used a small fruit knife to make a core in each cupcake but you can make this process easier by using a cupcake corer too!

*The ingredient list and measurement for this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the bottom.

How to make vegan strawberry filled cupcakes

Step 1: Puree the strawberries

The first thing to do to make the cupcakes is puree the strawberries! I used 2-3 cups of fresh strawberries(about 350g) for the entire recipe. It makes about 1&1/2 cups of strawberry puree and you should be able to use up all of it.

To puree the strawberries, put them all in a food processor and puree until they are smooth and liquid. 

Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients

In a large mixing bowl. Mix the flour, sugar, cornflour, freeze-dried strawberries, baking powder, and baking soda with a whisk until well combined and there are no lumps of flour left.

Step 3: Add the liquid ingredients and mix

Add the strawberry puree and vegetable oil and mix gently with a large wooden spoon or a silicone spatula until they are just combined. Don’t over mix! Overmixing can cause an over-development of gluten, which then can cause the cupcakes to be tough and rubbery in texture.

Step 4: Bake

Pour the batter into a cupcake tin lined with cupcake cups, filling them about halfway. Be careful not to overfill the cups, if you do they will rise too high and become like muffins! Pop them into the preheated oven and bake for 22-23 mins until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Once baked, take them out of the oven, let them cool down slightly until they are not too hot to touch in the tin, then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack and cool down completely before frosting.

Step 5: Make the strawberry jam filling

While the cupcakes are in the oven, let’s make the strawberry filling! In a small saucepan, add all the ingredients for the filling and cook on medium heat. Once it starts to reach the boiling point, turn the heat down to low and cook for a further 1-2 mins until it thickens. Set aside.

Step 6: make the vegan strawberry buttercream frosting

Making the buttercream frosting is super simple too! In a fairly large glass mixing bowl, beat the cubed room temperature vegan butter with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until it’s fluffy and paler in colour. Add the soy single cream/whipping cream and beat further 2-3 mins. Adding cream makes the buttercream really fluffy and creamy!

Add the strawberry puree and freeze-dried strawberries and beat until combined. Then add the icing sugar, 1/3 at a time and beat until it makes a nice creamy and fluffy buttercream frosting.

Step 7: Assembly

By the time the cupcakes are cooled down completely, you should have made the filling and frosting. It’s time to assemble the cupcakes! Using a small fruit knife or cupcake corer, core each cupcake. Keep the cut-out top on a plate! Fill them with the strawberry jam filling then put back the cut-out top.

Fit a piping bag with a star tip and stuff it with the strawberry buttercream frosting. Holding the opening of the piping back to ensure the cream won’t leak, frost each cupcake starting from the centre and going around the side then to the top.

I’m not great at making a perfect frosting shape on cupcakes by any means, but! I find that starting from the centre creates the best shape. If you start from the side the centre can sink because of the space not filled at the start. So I like to frost from the centre!

Decorate the cupcakes more with freeze-dried strawberries and fresh strawberries to make them look even cuter. Enjoy with your family and friends!

Tips and tricks

Use ripe and sweet strawberries

Using ripe and sweet strawberries is important in this recipe. If the strawberries are tart, so will the cupcakes! Choose ones with a label that says “sweet” when you are shopping for strawberries. If it’s still tart when you taste one at home, let them ripe for a day or 2 then use them in this homemade strawberry cupcake recipe!

Be careful not to overmix

Overmixing the batter can cause the cupcakes to have a tough and rubbery texture because of overdeveloped gluten in the batter. With the weight of the strawberry puree, it can even lead to the cupcakes sinking in the middle. To prevent these from happening mix the batter gently with a large wooden spoon or a silicone spatula.

Use a food processor or mixer to puree

You can puree the strawberries by mashing with a fork but using either a food processor or mixer is the best since they can process the strawberries to completely liquid, whereas with a fork there are still lumps of chunky strawberries left in the puree.

Frost from the centre

Frosting from the centre makes sure that the frosting won’t sink in the middle and make a better-shaped frosting!

How to store these strawberry cupcakes

You can store them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Keep them in a tall airtight container so that they maintain their freshness. I recommend storing the cupcakes without fresh strawberries on the frosting as fresh strawberries can produce liquid over time and makes the cupcakes a little too wet. You can also store the cupcakes and buttercream frosting separately. 

To freeze, put them in a freezer friendly tall airtight container without the fresh strawberries on the frosting and store for up to 2-3 months. Thaw at room temperature then serve. You can freeze the cupcakes and buttercream frosting separately in the same way too. If your frosting is not fluffy when thawed, beat them with an electric mixer for 2-3 mins again then frost as instructed in the recipe card below.

Q and A

Why are my cupcakes tough and bready?

The common cause of tough texture in cupcakes is overmixing the batter. When you mix the batter made with wheat flour, gluten is constantly developed while you mix it. When gluten is formed too much it causes the baked goods to be tough and not pleasant in texture. Try to mix gently with a large wooden spoon or a silicone spatula until just combined! Don’t mix until it’s super smooth.

Can I use red food colouring?

Yes sure! If you want to make the cupcakes a little more colourful with the pink/red colour, you can add red food colouring too. Use the amount according to the packet of the food colouring you have. Be careful when choosing your food colouring as many brands use red colour extracted from a bug, which is not vegan!

Want to master the basics of vegan baking?
Check out Vegan Baking 101 – the beginner’s guide to vegan baking for you to become an excellent vegan baker and familiar with the basics of vegan baking, ingredients, and techniques with useful tips!

You will LOVE these strawberry cupcakes because they are:

• soft, moist, and tender
• full of delicious strawberry flavour
• easy and made in 1 bowl
• perfect for gifting
• delicious
• pretty to look at

Want more recipes like this?

Try my other delicious cupcake and related recipes you might enjoy!

• Strawberry crumble bars
• Vegan Strawberry Cookies
• Biscoff cupcakes
• Strawberry chia jam
• Matcha cupcakes
• Chocolate cupcakes with biscoff frosting
• Funfetti cupcakes

Visit the cakes and cupcakes page and recipe page for more delicious recipes!

Please leave a comment and rate this recipe in the comment section below if you like this recipe! Let me know and tag me @thechestnutbakery on Instagram too. Thank you for making my recipe, friends!

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