Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Once again I find myself making cupcakes to take somewhere. I need to find some originality somewhere but apparently it's not going to be tonight.

I saw this Strawberry Cake on PaulaDeen.com and of course had to break it up into cupcakes. I have always had a soft spot for strawberry anything and this seemed like a good bet for the 4th of July. It's pretty and festive and I had some really great cupcake liners that begged for pink frosting!

I was able to get about 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes out of the recipe and they were just the right size for frosting. Sometimes I get carried away with the batter and fill the cups too full but I found that 1/4 c. is just about perfect. The frosting is yum as always. Can you really go wrong with cream cheese anything?? Not in my world.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
30 cupcakes
adapted from pauladeen.com
Strawberry Cake
1 white cake mix
4 eggs
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. oil
1 1/2 c. pureed strawberries with sugar
1 small box strawberry Jell-O

Mix cake mix and Jell-O together. Add eggs, water, oil and strawberries. Beat on medium until well mixed and smooth. I prefer the batter to be a bit thicker and like to beat it until it's kind of fluffy. It's up to you, do what you want.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 min.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
1/4 c. butter
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c. strawberry puree
1 tsp vanilla
6-7 c. powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Add berries and vanilla, mix well. Slowly add powdered sugar until frosting holds its shape and is the right consistency to frost your cupcakes.

Garnish with strawberry halves if desired.

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