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Easy Strawberry Buttercream

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American strawberry buttercream that is packed full of big berry goodness. It tastes like a strawberry milkshake in frosting form! 🍓

vanilla cupcake topped with swirl of pink strawberry buttercream.

Strawberry buttercream may just become your new favorite recipe! It is simple to make and perfect for decorating desserts. 

Just think how good it will be on chocolate cupcakes or fluffy white cupcakes. Really the possibilities are endless!

We had a big extended family Easter party at my parents’ little farm this year. They had one of their barns redone over the winter and wanted to break it in as the new party barn.

bowl of buttercream with freeze dried strawberries ready to go in.

Of course I nominated myself as the dessert committee. Having a big crowd to bake for is a fun excuse to make a variety of treats.

Little Dude and I made some chocolate bunnies filled with caramel,  peanut butter and marshmallow. They were surprisingly easy and really delicious!

I had a couple ideas for cupcakes I had been wanting to try as well. I made a batch of buttery vanilla cupcakes first.

Mixing bowl filled with pink strawberry buttercream.

With a neutral base like that, I wanted the frosting to make a bit of a statement.  It would have been easy enough to dig into my frosting archives, but where’s the fun in that?

The texture of the cupcakes reminded me somewhat of a pound cake, so inspiration struck! One of my favorite spring desserts is pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream.

Paddle filled with strawberry buttercream.

So strawberry frosting seemed like the perfect solution! I opted to tweak an American buttercream recipe because of how easy they are to make. (You can learn more about the different types of frosting in my frosting 101 guide.)

There are several ways you could add strawberries to your frosting. One would be to add jam or preserves.

vanilla cupcakes getting strawberry buttercream piped on.

I opted against that as it would be adding even more sugar to an already sweet frosting base. I wanted people to graze on the dessert spread and not feel oversugared too early! 😉

Another option would be to add fresh strawberry puree. I was a little nervous about how the texture would hold up though as I knew they’d be sitting outside for the length of the party.

cupcakes with swirls of strawberry buttercream and mini chocolate eggs on top.

So I settled on a perfect way to add a huge strawberry flavored punch without a ton of extra sugar or liquid… freeze dried strawberries! It worked out fabulously if I do say so myself.

I just whizzed up a 1.2 ounce package in our magic bullet until they were a fine powder. You could use a food processor or blender to do that job as well.

Butter vanilla cupcakes topped with swirls of pink strawberry buttercream with some slices of freeze dried strawberries.

The final product was every bit as good as I had envisioned. The color was pretty and the taste was obviously strawberry.

The frosting was easy to pipe and held it’s shape well. I cannot wait to think of an excuse to make it again.

In fact, I can’t wait to try it on chocolate cupcakes. It would be so pretty, maybe garnished with a drizzle of melted chocolate. Mmmm!

bowl of strawberry buttercream truffles topped with sprinkles with a bite taken out of one showing the soft pink center.

Turn any frosting you have leftover into delicious buttercream truffles. The strawberry frosting really adds a nice fruity pop and goes perfectly with the chocolate shell.

They may just become your new favorite chocolate! If you didn’t have a good excuse for making a double batch of frosting before, you do now! 

Have you ever tried a fruity frosting? What’s your favorite kind?

Love this recipe? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!

Yield: 24 Servings

Very Berry Strawberry Buttercream

vanilla cupcake topped with swirl of pink strawberry buttercream.

American buttercream that is packed full of strawberry goodness. It tastes like a strawberry milkshake in frosting form! 🍓

Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3-4 Tablespoons half and half, cream or milk
  • 1.2 ounces freeze dried strawberries

Instructions

  1. Beat butter until light and fluffy, at least 2 minutes. 
  2. Add powdered sugar vanilla, salt and a Tablespoon or two of milk or cream.  Add more milk or cream as necessary to get a nice smooth frosting.  Beat at least 3 more minutes. 
  3. Process the freeze dried strawberries in a blender or food processor until they are a fine powder. 
  4. Mix the strawberry powder into the frosting.  Adjust the final texture with a little more powdered sugar or milk as necessary.
  5. Use right away or store in an airtight container. 

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 131Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 75mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 0gSugar: 18gProtein: 1g

All nutritional information is estimated and will depend on the exact ingredients you use.

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to see it! Share a picture on Instagram or Pinterest and tag me @carleecooks to let me know how it went!

American buttercream that is packed full of strawberry goodness. It tastes like a strawberry milkshake in frosting form! 🍓

Thanks for sharing!

Tags

Carlee

Sunday 9th of June 2019

Thank you!

Carole

Saturday 11th of May 2019

Hey Carlee, these would fit beautifually with a theme for Food on Friday. hope you have time to bring them on over. Cheers from Carole's chatter

Carlee

Sunday 9th of June 2019

Thanks Carole

Amy

Wednesday 8th of May 2019

Carlee, these cupcakes are beautiful! I think that they are perfect since spring is in the air and it is strawberry season.

Carlee

Sunday 9th of June 2019

Thank you!

Debbie

Wednesday 8th of May 2019

Hi Carlee, I love the idea of using freeze dried strawberries. I imagine they add a nice tang that balances out any sugariness. The only fruity frosting I've tried is lemon and even then it's more of a mild tang than a zing.

xx

Carlee

Sunday 9th of June 2019

They really do add great flavor!

Andrea Nine

Wednesday 8th of May 2019

I was so excited for this recipe. Looks and sounds so creamy and delicious! xo

Carlee

Sunday 9th of June 2019

This is definitely one of my new favorite frostings!

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