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Home » Recipes by Type » Recipes

Modified: Jul 3, 2022 Published: Jun 30, 2022· Cathy Brak · This post may contain affiliate links ·

Home » Recipes by Type » Recipes

Strawberry Cupcake Filling

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Strawberry Cupcake Filling, featuring fresh, flavourful strawberries, is a great fruity filling for cupcakes, layer cakes, or tarts. It also makes an excellent topping for ice cream! Using only 4 ingredients, you can whip up a batch in just a few minutes!

white ramekin of glossy red strawberries in shiny gel, surrounded by whole berries and cupcakes.
Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • Recipe FAQ's
  • Suggested Serving
  • Equipment
  • Storage
  • Top tip
  • More Recipes You'll Love!
  • Recipe

It's wonderful to make this in the spring and early summer when fresh, local strawberries are in season. This recipe uses just a little raw sugar and is free from dairy, grains, and all of the common allergens.

Strawberry Cupcake Filling pairs well with my Gluten Free Vanilla Cake. Either use it between the two layers, or make a dozen cupcakes with the same recipe. Core the cupcakes and fill them individually.

Ingredients

looking down on a box of fresh strawberries, and small dishes of tapioca starch, lemon juice, and raw sugar with labels.
  • Strawberries - Fresh, local strawberries are the most flavourful. I have not tested this recipe with frozen berries, but I think they would work with a little more cooking time.
  • Lemon Juice - Freshly squeezed lemon juice always tastes best.
  • Tapioca Starch - Also known as tapioca flour, it produces a nice transparent, gel-like quality while the filling remains grain free.

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Begin by washing and hulling fresh strawberries.

pale blue spatula stirs fresh berry chunks in small saucepan.

Stir sugar into strawberries and tapioca starch into lemon juice.

pale blue spatula stirs strawberry chunks in small saucepan.

Stir the lemon mixture into the strawberry mixture.

pale spatula stirs partially cooked strawberries

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

cooked strawberry chunks in red gel with pale blue spatula in small stainless saucepan.

Turn down the heat and cook a little longer.

Hint: Allow the filling to cook before using it to fill cupcakes, cake layers, or tarts.

Recipe FAQ's


Do cupcakes with strawberry filling need to be refrigerated?

Yes, cupcakes with strawberry filling should be covered and refrigerated if they haven't been eaten within a few hours.

How do you core a cupcake filling?

Using a small, sharp knife, cut a circle about ¾-inch (2 cm) in diameter and about an inch (2.54 cm) deep in the centre of a cupcake. Then pull out the "plug" you've created and set it aside for an extra snack. You'll see the process in the video in the recipe card below.

Suggested Serving

  • Use the recipe for Gluten Free Vanilla Cake to make 12 cupcakes.
  • Core the cupcakes as explained above and shown in the video in the recipe card below.
  • Fill each cored cupcakes with Strawberry Cupcake Filling.
strawberry filled vanilla cupcakes with whole berries and white ramekin of remaining filling behind them.

Make a frosting with:

  • 1 cup (250 ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon gel scooped from Strawberry Cupcake Filling (avoiding chunks of berries) for pink colour

Beat the whipping cream until it's stiff. Then beat in the sugar and strawberry gel. Use it to frost the filled cupcakes.

Alternatively, you might like to frost the cupcakes with my Cream Cheese Frosting without Butter.

frosted, strawberry-filled vanilla cupcakes with one split open to reveal the filling.

Equipment

You don't really need much in the way of special equipment for this recipe, just your regular measuring spoons, cup, stirring spoon, and a small saucepan.

Storage

Store cooled Strawberry Cupcake Filling in a covered container in the refrigerator until you're ready to put the filling to use.

Top tip

Keep an eye on the filling as it cooks, so it doesn't get scorched on the bottom of the pan. Stir it frequently, and make sure the heat isn't too high.

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Recipe

white ramekin of glossy red strawberries in shiny gel, surrounded by whole berries and cupcakes.

Strawberry Cupcake Filling

This simple Strawberry Cupcake Filling bursting with fresh strawberry flavour is great for filling cupcakes, cakes or tarts. It also makes a perfect ice cream topping!
5 from 2 votes
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Diet: Gluten Free
Keyword: cupcake, strawberry
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 1 cup
Calories: 180kcal
Author: Cathy

Equipment

  • 1 small saucepan
Prevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  • ½ pound fresh strawberries
  • 2 tablespoons raw sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
  • 1½ teaspoons tapioca starch
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Wash and hull the strawberries. Cut large ones into quarters, small ones in half.
    ½ pound fresh strawberries
  • Stir the sugar into the cut berries in a small saucepan. Stir the tapioca starch into the lemon juice until smooth.
    2 tablespoons raw sugar
    1½ teaspoons lemon juice
    1½ teaspoons tapioca starch
  • Then, stir the lemon-tapioca mixture into the sugared berries.
  • Bring the whole mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. It will thicken up quickly.
  • Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook for 4 or 5 more minutes to cook down the berries, stirring frequently.
  • Allow the filling to cool before using it to fill cored cupcakes, cake layers, or tart shells.

Video

https://www.cathysglutenfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Strawberry-Cupcake-Filling.mp4

Notes

  • Cut a ¾" (2 cm) core about an inch (2.54 cm) into the centre of each of a dozen vanilla cupcakes and spoon cooled filling into each one.
  • For a pink whipped cream frosting, scoop about a teaspoon (5 ml) gel from the strawberry filling (avoiding chunks of strawberry), and add it along with a teaspoon of sugar to 1 cup (250 ml) heavy whipping cream, whipped. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 362mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 28IU | Vitamin C: 136mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg

Please note that the nutrition information is for the entire recipe.

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5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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