Easy Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes

Need a quick cupcake that is not only delicious, but will impress? Try these Easy Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes made with box cake mix, strawberry jam and a simple frosting recipe! Perfect for Spring!

Tonight is my first Troop FRG Meeting as the FRG Leader.  Though out the deployment we had Squadron meetings which I was just an attendee… not running.  So it’s a big night for me!  If you’re not farmiliar with the FRG, it stands for Family Readiness Group.  Basically, the FRG supports the families of the soldiers in the unit.  We provide support in many ways from providing community information and unit information to hosting social events and fundraisers.  We also provide resources for spouses, children and parents of our soldiers.

The picture below was taken earlier this week at the 2/2 CR Volunteer Recognition Reception where all of the lovely ladies here (including me!) were recognized for their service to the unit during our recent deployment. A fabulous group of women doing all kinds of amazing things for the soldiers and their families.  A true honor to be able to know & serve with them.

I’ve been the FRG Leader in every unit that Dave has been in since we’ve been married and the first meeting is always a big deal for me.  It’s my introduction to the soldiers and their families and I always like to make a great impression with them! What better way to make a good impress than with cupcakes?

I didn’t want to spend hours on a difficult recipe, so I used a box cake mix for the cupcakes (can’t get much easier than that!), a jar of my favorite strawberry jam for the filling and whipped up a lemon frosting that required little work to make!

What makes a simple-to-bake cupcake impressive?  Presentation! To make these Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes special, I used yellow quarterfoil grease-proof liners from Sweets & Treats Boutiqe to bake the cupcakes in.  This created a super cute base for the cupcakes, plus it set the color theme for the cupcakes!

Next, I used a Wilton 1M piping tip to pipe the frosting onto the cupcake.  This is my favorite way to decorate the cupcakes with little work but great impact!  Perfect swirls every time with this piping tip. Finally, I sprinkled the top of the cupcakes with sugar balls in yellow.

A little bit of work creates a super delicious cupcake!  I’m sure everyone at the meeting will enjoy these tonight!

Happy Baking!

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Easy Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 1 box Vanilla/White Cake Mix + ingredients on box

Filling

• 1 jar of your favorite strawberry jam

Lemon Frosting

• 1 cup unsalted butter, soft
• 2lbs powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (plus up to 1/4 cup more)
• 1 Tbsp lemon extract
• pinch of salt
• 2-3 drops Wilton yellow food gel coloring
• yellow sugar candies, for garnish

Instructions

Cupcakes

1. Prepare the cake batter as instructed on the box. Bake as cupcakes according to the box directions.
2. Cool completely before filling & frosting.

Filling

1. Core cooled cupcakes & fill with your favorite strawberry jam.

Lemon Frosting

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth.
2. Add half the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated.
3. Mix in the lemon extract and half the heavy cream and beat until smooth.
4. Add the remaining powdered sugar and salt and mix until incorporated.
5. Beat on high for 30 seconds.
6. Add the rest of the heavy cream, food gel coloring and beat for 2-3 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy. Add more heavy cream if you want a thinner, softer frosting.
7. Using a Wilton 1M tip attached to a piping bag, fill the bag with frosting then pipe swirls of frosting onto each filled cupcake. Top with yellow sugar candies for garnish.

Did you make this recipe?

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