Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Strawberry and lemon together for a perfect compliment to any celebration. Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes have a moist strawberry cupcake with a smooth creamy lemon pudding filling. The frosting is a combination of strawberry and lemon flavors to perfectly top off this delicious cupcake.
Who doesn’t love the surprise of lemon pudding in the middle of a cupcake? C’mon now, seriously! Lemon pudding mixed with Cool Whip fills the center of these Strawberry cupcakes. To keep things easy-peasy, the strawberry cupcake is from a box, so no hassles there. Even the frosting is made from one batch, then split in two for the strawberry half and the lemon half.
Strawberry Cupcakes
Grab a box of strawberry cake mix and follow the directions for the cupcakes. I’m sure the box will require you to add 3 eggs, some water and oil, so make sure you have those on hand. Once you pull the baked cupcakes from the oven and let them cool, start the lemon pudding mixture. Make sure you add the pudding mixture to the milk while the beaters are going. This helps reduce lumps and clumps. Add some Cool Whip to the pudding and mix thoroughly. Let this set up in the refrigerator.
Filling the Cupcakes
Once the cupcakes have cooled to the touch, you’ll need to take the centers out. I have a gadget that does this, a cool little plunger type thingy, but a grapefruit spoon or even a small knife and your fingers would work. Taking the center out doesn’t have to look pretty, it’ll get covered up. Once the center is out, don’t throw them away. Consider freezing them for later use in a Strawberry Kiwi Trifle or some other dessert. You could even throw them on top of a scoop of ice cream and viola! Dessert is served.
Ok, so the Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes have been baked, cooled, and cored, and the pudding mixture is ready to go from the frig. Grab a pastry bag and fill it with the pudding mixture, then snip off the tip. Fill each cupcake to the top of the cupcake; don’t under-fill. If you’re lucky enough to have any leftover pudding mixture, squirt it into a glass for a tasty little snack later. To insure you have leftover pudding, use the whole tub of an 8 oz. Cool Whip. You really can’t go wrong there. Time for the frosting.
Frosting the Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Using a batch of buttercream frosting, make it, but hold off on adding any flavored extracts, like vanilla. First split the batch into 2 equal parts. To one part, add strawberry extract and pink or red (gently) food coloring, and to the other part, add lemon extract and yellow food coloring. To achieve the same look of the hydrangea flowers as shown, here’s what I did. Using clear wrap, plop some strawberry frosting down in the shape that will fit nicely into your pastry bag. Then add some lemon frosting right on top of the strawberry frosting.
Wrap the frosting up tightly; the length and both ends, then cut one end off. With your pastry bag ready with a Wilton’s tip 2D or 1M already inserted, drop the cut end of your wrapped frosting into the pastry bag. Squeeze about eight flowers around the edges, one in the middle, then four on top. That’s it. One strawberry lemon hydrangea at your service. Once you’ve used up that batch, throw out the clear wrap. Plan on filling another piece of clear wrap with more frosting repeating the dual flavors. You’ll see how easy this is once you try it.
Interested in other filled cupcake recipes? Try these Tropical Ambrosia Cupcakes or these St. Patrick’s Day Puddin’ Filled Cupcakes. Pudding with cake is seriously scrumptious!
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 1 box strawberry cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
For the filling:
- 3.4 oz. box instant lemon pudding
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 4 oz. Cool Whip (or use the whole 8 oz. tub and have leftovers)
For the frosting:
- 1 cup shortening, (or unsalted butter)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 7-8 tsp. water or milk
- 1/2 tsp. strawberry extract
- few drops pink food coloring
- 1/2 tsp. lemon extract
- few drops yellow food coloring
Instructions
- For the cupcakes: bake cupcakes according to box directions. Cool completely and remove centers of each cupcake. (Freeze centers for later use.)
- For the filling: mix pudding powder into milk until thoroughly mixed, add Cool Whip. Allow pudding to set up in refrigerator for 5 minutes (or while you make frosting). Fill a pastry bag with the pudding mixture and cut the tip off. Fill each cupcake to the top.
- For the frosting: Mix the shortening until smooth and creamy. Alternately add the powdered sugar and water in batches until light and fluffy. Add more/less water depending on consistency wanted.
- Divide the frosting into separate bowls. In one bowl add the strawberry extract and pink food coloring. In the other bowl, add the lemon extract and yellow food coloring.
- Using a square of clear wrap, put 1/4 strawberry frosting down center in a shape that will fit inside your pastry bag. Put 1/4 lemon frosting directly on top of the strawberry frosting. Tightly seal the clear wrap; length and ends. Cut one end off, and drop cut end into prepared pastry bag with Wilton's tip already in place. For hydrangea cupcakes, use Wilton's 2D or 1M tip. Start with a new piece of clear wrap for remaining frosting. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Here are some great sizes to pin on your Pinterest Board. Happy baking and have a blessed day.
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I used shortening for the frosting base, was not a fan of that! I’ll stick with the butter! It kinda threw the whole cupcake off!
Butter is hard to beat, which is why I give the option, “or unsalted butter” in place of the shortening. Shortening is great when using food coloring — you get a truer color vs. the yellow you get from the butter. So, when I’m not coloring, or need a true white, I use butter, too.
Can these be stored at room temperature?
Hi Karly, thanks for the question. No, they can’t be stored at room temperature with the pudding in the center (the milk would sour). They can sit out for a while before you serve them to warm the frosting, but then they should be stored back in the fridge.