Strawberry Jam Filled Cupcakes

These delicious Strawberry Jam Filled Cupcakes are bursting with fruity strawberry flavor!

They are a soft vanilla cupcake filled with a strawberry jam surprise, topped with a creamy freeze dried strawberry buttercream, and garnished with a fresh strawberry. Each bite is the perfect balance of cake and strawberry.

Looking for more delicious strawberry dessert recipes? Try my Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes or this fresh Strawberry Blueberry Pie!

Funny story about me, I am obsessed with filling cupcakes. I very rarely leave a frosted cupcake alone, there is always some other element to take them over the edge. I have Nutella Filled Cupcakes, my Jell-O soaked Strawberry Crunch Cupcakes, or these Raspberry Cupcakes that are stuffed with fresh berries… Plain cupcakes do not exist in my world.

These Strawberry Filled Cupcakes are NO exception to the rule. Strawberry is a classic fruit flavor so I knew I needed to create a recipe that could easily be made year-around. With strawberry jam and freeze-dried strawberries we have the epic strawberry flavor without having to rely on in season berries.

They are perfect to make for parties, after-school baking with the kids, or just because you want to have a sweet treat in the house. I guarantee you and your family will find these cupcakes delicious and addicting (I literally ate four in one day, no shame). And that strawberry jam surprise is so fun, let’s make them!

Watch This Quick, 30 Second Recipe Tutorial

Strawberry Jam Filled Cupcakes Ingredients

This recipe is 4 delicious elements: fluffy vanilla cupcakes, strawberry jam filling, creamy vanilla buttercream, and a fresh strawberry for decorating. Below are all the ingredients plus a few notes and potential substitutions.

The Jam Filled Vanilla Cupcakes

• Flour: This recipe calls for all-purpose flour. Gluten Free 1:1 flour works as well with little difference in the taste, texture, and baking time.
• Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness to our cupcakes. Cane sugar can be used in it’s place.
• Baking Powder: An essential leavening agent for adding body and texture to the cupcakes.
• Salt: This helps to balance out the sweet.
• Buttermilk: Brought to room temperature. If you need to make your own buttermilk, combine ½ cup of full fat milk and ½ tablespoon of white vinegar. Allow the mixture to sour for about 30 minutes before making the batter.
• Vegetable Oil: This adds moisture to the cupcakes. Canola oil or olive oil can be used in it’s place.
• Egg: Brought to room temperature.
• Vanilla Extract: This adds extra the epic vanilla flavor. Make sure to use pure or homemade extract and not imitation extract.
• Warm Water:
• Strawberry Jam: This is used to stuff our cupcakes! Feel free to use homemade or store-bought strawberry jam. I use store-bought strawberry jam, Bonne Maman brand, because it makes this recipe so much easier. I also like this recipe for strawberry puree if you want to make fresh strawberry filling.
• Fresh Strawberries: An optional way to decorate the cupcakes. Be sure to thoroughly wash and dry them before putting them on your cupcakes.

Strawberry Buttercream

• Unsalted Butter: Make sure it is softened to room temperature or your buttercream will not whip together. If you use salted butter in its place, omit the salt below.
• Salt: see note above.
• Freeze Dried Strawberries (whole or powdered): These will add bold strawberry flavor without adding moisture to the buttercream. It also increases the stability of the buttercream. They can be found at your local grocers or I buy my whole freeze dried strawberries on Amazon.
• Powdered Sugar (Confectioner’s Sugar): This adds sweetness.
• Heavy Whipping Cream: To make our buttercream super creamy.

Equipment Needed

• Hand mixer or Stand Mixer: You can use whichever you have or prefer. Just make sure it’s fitted with the paddle or beater attachment.
• Cupcake Baking Pan: Use a 12 cavity, light silver cupcake pan. Dark and even gold/ bronze colored pans will brown and even burn the cupcakes (because of the excessive heat they absorb). You’ll also need to have paper baking cups or parchment paper to keep them from sticking to the pan/
• Cupcake Corer: I typically use a piping tip because I already have those on hand. Feel free to use a traditional metal corer or even a sharp knife to carve out the cupcake centers.
• Piping Bags: I choose to use thick, disposable bags. You can even use reusable piping bags or sealable plastic bags in a pinch.
• Piping Tips: Use a small tip to fill the cupcakes and extra large piping tips to decorate them with jam. Alternatively you can cut the tip off of the bag you’re using (it doesn’t have to be perfect).

How to Make Strawberry Jam Filled Cupcakes

Here are the basic instructions, the recipe card below will have complete details.

1. Bake the vanilla cupcakes- Whisk together the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients (minus the warm water), and fully incorporate them together. Slowly whisk in the warm water until there are no lumps. Fill your cupcake liners with the batter and bake.

2. Whip together the strawberry buttercream- Beat together the butter and salt. Alternate adding the powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream. Continue to beat the buttercream until light and fluffy. Fold in the freeze dried strawberry using a spatula until smooth and creamy.

3. Core and fill the cupcakes with strawberry jam- Core the vanilla cupcakes by pressing down and rotating once into the cupcake and gently pull up and out the center. Place the jam into a fitted piping bag and fill the cupcakes to the top with strawberry jam.

4. Decorate your Strawberry Jam Filled Cupcakes- You can frost them using a knife or by placing the strawberry buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a piping tip. I kept it simple by piping a circular stack of buttercream but you can do whatever design you want. Once you are done frosting them, top them with a fresh strawberry

Storing Information

Strawberry Jam Filled Cupcakes should always be stored in an airtight container. At room temperature they will last up to 3 days and if refrigerated up to 7 days.

Another thing I love to do is freeze them! This makes them great for a quick, sweet snack. I like to freeze the cupcakes first, then wrap them in plastic wrap, and store in an airtight container or reusable bag for up to 3 months. Just set one or more out at room temperature (unwrapped) to thaw before eating.

Make Ahead Information

I love a recipe I can make or prepare ahead of time! These cupcakes are perfect for it because you can do one of two things: fully decorate the cupcakes ahead of time (up to 3 days in advance) OR prepare the ingredients and decorate later.

Prepare and refrigerate the vanilla cupcakes and strawberry buttercream up to two days in advance. Bring the strawberry buttercream to room temperature before coring, filling, and decorating the cupcakes as normal.

5 Tips for Better Cupcakes

1. USE ROOM TEMPERATURE INGREDIENTS– This is the key to a successful Strawberry Jam Filled Cupcake! Room temperature ingredients always incorporate in the batter better which means your cupcakes will bake more evenly. It will also give you a lump free, super smooth strawberry buttercream.
2. PROPERLY MEASURE YOUR FLOUR- Scooping flour straight out of the bag always gives you more flour than what is needed, which means a tough and dry cupcake. To properly measure flour all you have to do is fluff up the flour with a whisk, spoon it into a measuring cup, and level it off. Using a kitchen scale (and toggling to the metric system in the recipe card) is a great option too.
3. BE CAREFUL TO NOT OVERFILL THE CUPCAKE LINERS: My rule is they should be filled between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way full. Overfilling your liners with batter can cause the cupcakes to collapse once removed from the oven or spill over to create a “muffin top” look.
4. ALLOW THE CUPCAKES TO COOL TO ROOM TEMPERATURE: It is always tempting speed up the process by throwing them in the refrigerator, but don’t! Doing this creates condensation on the surface of the cupcake and it makes them wet. When the tops are wet you will have a hard time decorating with the strawberry buttercream.
5. MAKE A CREAM CHEESE STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM: All you have to do is replace a half cup (one stick) of butter with a half cup (half brick) of cream cheese. The buttercream will still have stability and great texture but with the tang of a cream cheese frosting. Or try my Almond Buttercream Frosting and Not So Sweet Buttercream.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

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