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Freshly baked and decorated Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes on a wooden display board.
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Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

These Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes are made with a buttery graham cracker crust, layers of fresh strawberry cake and real baked cheesecake batter, and finished with a creamy strawberry cheesecake frosting. They’re soft, rich, and balanced — with real strawberry flavor and a texture that actually holds up.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cheesecake, cupcakes, strawberry
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Cooling 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Servings 12 cupcakes
Calories 280kcal
Author Camila Hurst

Ingredients

Strawberry Puree

  • 2 cups sliced strawberries 300g

Graham Cracker Crust

  • 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs 180g, or digestive biscuits
  • ¼ cup brown sugar 55g
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted 85g

Strawberry Cupcake Batter

  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour 191g
  • 1¼ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature (56g)
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar 150g
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil 60ml
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup sour cream 60g
  • ¼ cup strawberry puree
  • ¼ cup buttermilk 60ml

Cheesecake Batter

  • 454 grams cream cheese softened (2 packages of 8 oz.)
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar 133g
  • ¼ cup sour cream 60g
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • ¾ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • ¼ tsp salt

Strawberry Cheesecake Frosting

  • ½ cup unsalted butter 113g
  • ¼ cup cream cheese 56g
  • 2 ½ cups powdered sugar 312g
  • 2 tbsp strawberry puree

Instructions

Strawberry Puree

  • Place the strawberries in a blender. Blend until the strawberries becomes a puree.
  • Pour the pureed strawberries in a medium saucepan, place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, and stir often.
  • Cook the puree until it reduces to about ½ cup. You will use 1/4 cup for the cake, and 2 tablespoons for the frosting. It can take 10 minutes or a bit longer to reduce the puree. It depends on how high the heat is.
  • Remember to stir occasionally, and after pouring the puree into a heat-safe measuring cup, check the amount — if there’s still too much liquid, return it to the pan to cook a bit longer before measuring again.
  • Once you have ½ cup, pour in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the puree so it doesn’t form a crust. Let the puree cool down.

Graham Cracker Crust

  • Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF. Line two jumbo pans or two cupcake pans with a baking paper. Set aside.
  • Place the graham cracker in a food processor and process to obtain fine crumbs. Add the brown sugar and mix to combine.
  • Melt the butter and mix with the crumbs and sugar.
  • Press the mixture on the bottom of the prepared cupcake pans. Bake the crust in the oven for 5 minutes.
  • Remove it from the oven and let it cool down.

Strawberry Cupcake Batter

  • In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • Use an electric mixer to beat the butter at medium speed for 30 seconds. You can use a stand mixer or a hand mixer. Add the granulated sugar, the oil, and beat together with the butter for another 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl every so often to ensure everything is getting nicely incorporated together.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated before adding the next egg. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
  • Add the sour cream, and 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree in the bowl and mix. You can place the remaining strawberry puree in the fridge, covered, to use in the frosting later.
  • At this point, you can add a couple of drops of pink food coloring to the cake if desired.
  • Add half of the buttermilk to the bowl and mix on low.
  • Add half of the dry ingredient mixture and stir to combine.
  • Add the remaining buttermilk and mix. Finish by adding the last half of the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. You can also use the spatula instead of the mixer to fold the batter during this final stage. Set the batter aside.

Cheesecake Batter

  • Beat the cream cheese for 3 minutes with a mixer at medium speed, until creamy. Add the granulated sugar and beat for 2 minutes until combined.
  • Scrape the bowl and beat for another 30 seconds.
  • Add the sour cream and mix to combine. Scrape the bowl.
  • Add the eggs one at a time to the bowl, mixing until incorporated before adding the next one.
  • Add the vanilla extract (and or vanilla bean paste), salt, and mix briefly. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Assemble

  • Add a couple of tablespoons of the strawberry cupcake batter to the bottom of the cupcake pans. If using a jumbo pan, you can add about ¼ cup of batter. Pour a couple of tablespoons of cheesecake batter on top. Continue alternating the batters until you fill each cavity about ¾ of the way. Use a chopstick, or a knife to swirl each cupcake gently.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. It could take a bit longer if using jumbo pans, about 25 to 30 minutes per tray.
  • Remove the cupcakes from the oven when they are puffed and not jiggly.
  • A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
  • Let them fully cool down, then place them in the fridge for at least a couple of hours to allow the cheesecake layer to set.

Strawberry Cheesecake Frosting

  • Beat the butter in the bowl of a mixer for 30 seconds. Add the cream cheese and beat for another 30 seconds on medium-speed.
  • Add half of the powdered sugar, mix on low until combined. Raise the speed and beat on medium speed for just a few seconds.
  • Add the strawberry puree and mix on low.
  • Add the remaining powdered sugar, mix on low, and then raise the speed to medium-high, and beat for one minute.
  • If the frosting is too runny, add a bit more powdered sugar to make it thicker. Place the frosting in a piping bag lined with the tip of your choice. I used a 2A.

Frost

  • Once the cupcakes have chilled in the fridge, you can frost them.
  • Pipe a bit of frosting on top of each cupcake and top with a strawberry or a strawberry half.

Storage

  • Store the leftover cupcakes in the fridge, in an air-tight container, for up to 5 days.
  • If freezing the cupcakes, wrap them in plastic and place in an air-tight container, and remove the fresh strawberries.

Notes

Strawberry puree: you can use store-bought strawberry jam instead, it will add to the sweetness though.
Buttermilk, eggs, sour cream: Make sure these ingredients are at room temperature. Just remove them from the fridge about 20 or 30 minutes before you have to use them in the recipe.
Butter: The butter also needs to be softened. Ideally, it’s at 72ºF.
Buttermilk swap: If you don’t have buttermilk, simply add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to regular milk, let it sit for 2 minutes, and use in the recipe.
Sour cream: swap You can use yogurt instead of sour cream. Full fat Greek yogurt works well.
Strawberries: You can use either frozen or fresh strawberries for all the steps of the recipe.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cupcake | Calories: 280kcal