Vegan Strawberry Buttercream Cupcakes

This recipe for vegan strawberry buttercream cupcakes is perfect to make for my favorite holiday – Valentine’s Day! The strawberry buttercream is made with fresh strawberries giving it that sweet and tangy flavor that everyone loves about strawberries. The cupcakes are light, fluffy, and filled with notes of vanilla. We topped our cupcakes with cute little strawberry hearts dipped in chocolate – I’m in love!

Matt really loves strawberry buttercream. I know this because he talks about it every time I mention even the slightest about cupcakes. With Valentine’s Day coming up soon, there was no more perfect time to try out a yummy, strawberry frosting. I stuck with my more traditional vanilla-bean cupcakes that I adapted from a recipe for vanilla-bean cake that I made for Matt’s birthday last summer.

To get the strawberry flavor, you’ll need to purée about 1 cup (150g) of fresh, sliced strawberries in your blender. Then, reduce the purée to about half in a small pot on medium heat, stirring frequently. This way, the frosting will have a strong strawberry flavor without being too watery. Cool the reduced purée in the fridge for a few minutes so it doesn’t melt the butter when you mix it in. Be careful not to chill it too much, room temperature will be just fine.

This Vegan Strawberry No-Buttercream Frosting recipe uses Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks. Leave them out for a few hours or overnight before making the frosting and they’ll soften up perfectly.

Use your hand-mixer to cream the butter, then slowly start mixing in the confectioner’s sugar (make sure to get vegan/bone-char free! yeah WTF bone char? I use Wholesome which we get at Whole Foods usually). Mix it in about 1/4 cup at a time because otherwise the powdered sugar will puff and explode all over your kitchen and that’s no fun to clean-up (trust me).

Alternate mixing the sugar with the pureed strawberries until you have a lovely pink, strawberry frosting. This recipe makes enough frosting for 12 cupcakes.

So good – so creamy – so strawberrily (yeah, I just made up that word).

4.08 from 13 votes

Print Friendly Version

Vegan Strawberry Buttercream Cupcakes

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

This creamy strawberry buttercream is 100% vegan, easy to make, and perfect for a Valentine's Day treat. Topped on easy, vegan vanilla cupcakes - this recipe is sweet and tangy and absolutely amazing!

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cupcakes

Keyword: buttercream, cupcakes, strawberry, vegan

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Calories per Serving: 281 kcal

Author: pasta-based

Ingredients

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1 cup plant milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup safflower oil or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1.25 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup sugar

Strawberry Buttercream

• 1 cup fresh strawberries sliced
• 8 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks 4 ounces, softened
• 1.25 cups vegan confectioner's sugar also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

To make the vegan vanilla cupcakes

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners. In a large measuring cup, combine plant milk and apple cider vinegar to make "buttermilk." Set aside to curdle, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Whisk to combine. 

3. When your buttermilk is ready, add oil and vanilla extract to the measuring cup. Stir to combine. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until well-combined. Evenly measure out 12 cupcakes into the cupcake tin and bake for about 20 minutes, until the cupcakes start to lightly brown or bounce back when touched. Cool completely before frosting.

   

To make the vegan strawberry buttercream

1. Place fresh, sliced strawberries in blender and purée until smooth. Add the strawberry purée into a small pot and place on medium-heat. Reduce the purée to about half, stirring frequently (about 10 minutes). Pour into a small bowl and let cool.

   

2. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the softened vegan buttery sticks until light and creamy. Slowly add confectioner's sugar, about 1/4 cup (30g) at a time, and reduced strawberry purée, about 2 tablespoons at a time, using your hand-mixer to cream the butter, sugar and strawberry purée together.

Recipe Notes

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Strawberry Buttercream Cupcakes

Amount Per Serving (1 cupcake)

Calories 281 Calories from Fat 126

% Daily Value*

Fat 14g22%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Sodium 115mg5%

Potassium 81mg2%

Carbohydrates 37g12%

Sugar 25g28%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 40IU1%

Vitamin C 7.1mg9%

Calcium 40mg4%

Iron 0.8mg4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.