Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- First things first, let's preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). While that's warming up, line a 12-cup muffin tin with your favorite cupcake liners. This makes for easy cleanup and a pretty presentation!
- Grab a large bowl. Add your strawberry cake mix, water, vegetable oil, and eggs. Now, get your mixer ready. Beat everything together on medium speed for about 2 minutes until the batter is smooth and smells divine. It's going to look and smell so good already!
- Spoon your beautiful batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling them about ¾ of the way full. Pop them into the oven and bake for 18–22 minutes. You'll know they're ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let these gorgeous strawberry cakes cool completely on a wire rack before we move on to the fun part!
- Once your cupcakes are totally cool (this is important for the frosting!), it's time for the surprise inside. You can use a cupcake corer tool, or just a small knife, to carefully remove a little bit from the center of each cupcake. Spoon about 1–2 teaspoons of that bright lemon curd into each little hole. You can pop the removed center back on top if you like, or just leave it open for a peek of sunshine.
- In a clean bowl, beat your softened butter until it's light and fluffy. This is the key to amazing frosting! Then, gradually add your powdered sugar, alternating with the lemon juice and zest. Mix it all together until it's wonderfully smooth and creamy. Taste it – if you want it a little more lemony, add another splash of juice!
- Now for the artistry! Divide your creamy buttercream into two separate bowls. Tint one bowl with a lovely pink and the other with a cheerful yellow using your gel food coloring. Gel colors give you vibrant hues without making the frosting too thin.
- Spoon both the pink and yellow frostings side-by-side into a piping bag fitted with your favorite tip. If you don't have a piping bag, a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off works great! Pipe beautiful, tall swirls onto each of your lemon-curd-filled cupcakes. The two colors swirling together will look just like a refreshing glass of strawberry lemonade!
Notes
Want to give these cupcakes your own special touch? Here are some ideas:
For Extra Strawberry Flavor: Fold in some fresh, chopped strawberries into the batter before baking.
Lemonade Syrup: Instead of just lemon juice in the frosting, try reducing some pink lemonade into a syrup for an even more intense lemonade flavor.
Lemon Zest: If you're a big lemon fan, add a bit more lemon zest to both the cake batter and the frosting.
Sparkle: Sprinkle some edible glitter or colored sanding sugar on top of the frosting for a festive touch.
Citrus Swap: Feeling adventurous? Try using lime juice and zest for a limeade twist! A few little tricks to make your baking experience even smoother: Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature for the best texture in your cupcakes and frosting.
Don't Overmix: Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet, mix just until combined. Overmixing can lead to tough cupcakes.
Cool Completely: Seriously, let those cupcakes cool completely before frosting. Warm cupcakes will melt your beautiful buttercream!
Piping Bag Tip: If you don't have a fancy piping tip, just snip a small corner off a Ziploc bag. You can achieve a lovely swirl that way too!
Prep Ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a day in advance and store them in an airtight container. Make the frosting the day of or the day before and store it in the fridge (bring to room temp before frosting).
Lemonade Syrup: Instead of just lemon juice in the frosting, try reducing some pink lemonade into a syrup for an even more intense lemonade flavor.
Lemon Zest: If you're a big lemon fan, add a bit more lemon zest to both the cake batter and the frosting.
Sparkle: Sprinkle some edible glitter or colored sanding sugar on top of the frosting for a festive touch.
Citrus Swap: Feeling adventurous? Try using lime juice and zest for a limeade twist! A few little tricks to make your baking experience even smoother: Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature for the best texture in your cupcakes and frosting.
Don't Overmix: Once you add the dry ingredients to the wet, mix just until combined. Overmixing can lead to tough cupcakes.
Cool Completely: Seriously, let those cupcakes cool completely before frosting. Warm cupcakes will melt your beautiful buttercream!
Piping Bag Tip: If you don't have a fancy piping tip, just snip a small corner off a Ziploc bag. You can achieve a lovely swirl that way too!
Prep Ahead: You can bake the cupcakes a day in advance and store them in an airtight container. Make the frosting the day of or the day before and store it in the fridge (bring to room temp before frosting).