Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
Indulge in bright citrus flavors with Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes. A sweet treat topped with homemade cream cheese frosting made for sharing!
Colorful, delicious, and so simple to whip up, Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes are fun to eat and take almost no time at all to make! The cupcake’s only ingredients are strawberry soda and lemon cake mix, and homemade cream cheese frosting is as easy as tossing cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and lemon zest into your mixer for an irresistible treat!
Sunshine Cupcakes
I’m pretty sure that if you closed your eyes and took a bite of a Strawberry Lemon Cupcake, you would swear it was summer, even if it wasn’t! The fruit flavors are so refreshing, and the cream cheese on top gives the cupcakes that touch of decadence that we love in sweet treats. My kids love pouring the soda into the cake mix and stirring it all up. Plus, they stick around to lick the frosting-covered beaters, so it’s a fun family activity full of tasty rewards!
Since some people frown on enjoying sweets for breakfast, prepare Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins or Strawberry Scones for a morning treat worth getting up for!
Other Recipes to Serve with Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
- Beat the heat with a sweet, cooling Strawberry Sweet Tea that everyone can enjoy on the patio with their cupcakes!
- After you fall in love with these cupcakes, you’re going to want to bake a huge batch of Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Cookies. You better make two batches. They’re that good.
Ingredients
Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
Soda: Room-temperature strawberry soda, like strawberry Crush or Fanta, is the perfect soda to use for these cupcakes.
Cake mix: Pick up one box of your favorite lemon cake mix.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Dairy: You will need unsalted butter and cream cheese. Set these both out to soften to room temperature.
Pantry items: Powdered sugar and vanilla extract are also needed for this recipe.
Fruit: Pick up a lemon to zest in the frosting and save the rest to slice for garnish, along with fresh strawberries.
How to Make Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place cupcake liners in each well of the muffin tin. In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix and the soda until combined.
STEP TWO: Fill each cupcake liner half full. Bake the cupcakes for 14-16 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.
STEP THREE: To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together in a stand mixer or large bowl with beaters. Sprinkle in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and then add the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
STEP FOUR: Frost the cupcakes using an offset spatula or pipe the frosting on using a piping bag fitted with a tip. Garnish the cupcakes with sliced strawberries and lemons.
Tips for Success
- Cake mix and soda are really all you need to make great-tasting, fluffy cupcakes, so don’t worry about picking up the ingredients listed on the cake mix box.
- Make those cupcakes pop with a great pink color by adding 2-3 drops of red food coloring to the cupcake batter.
- If you don’t have a piping bag to frost the cupcakes, just cut one of the bottom corners of a Ziploc bag, fill it with the frosting, seal the bag and then squeeze it to apply the frosting. If you have piping tips but no piping bags, one can be inserted into the hole of the Ziploc bag to pipe the frosting.
Does soda and cake mix really work?
Thanks to all those little bubbles, mixing soda and cake mix works every time! The carbonation in the soda acts to leaven the cake mix, making the cake rise and creating pockets of air so that the cake turns out fluffy and moist. The cake will retain a little or a lot of the soda flavor, depending on what combination you choose, so keep that in mind when you then choose your frosting. Popular cake and soda combinations include cola & chocolate cake, ginger ale & carrot cake, and Dr. Pepper & red velvet cake, but there are many more for you to try as well!
Can I make these gluten-free?
You can swap out regular cake mix for gluten-free cake mix with no problems. The only thing to watch for is that the GF mix is roughly the same amount of ounces as a regular box of cake mix. You will need to adjust how much soda you add to the GF mix if it is more or less than the standard cake mix box.
Add more delicious cupcakes to your life!
- Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Triple Chocolate Cupcakes
- Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes with Tequila Cream Cheese Frosting
- Keto Cupcakes
*This post originally posted on 04/24/2014.
Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
Ingredients
Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes
- 15.25 ounces lemon cake mix (1 box)
- 12 ounces strawberry soda
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- Strawberries cut in half, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix and strawberry soda until smooth and combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the lined muffin tin cups so that they are 1/2 way full.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cupcakes are cooled, beat together the butter and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Once the sugar is all mixed in add the vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Frost the cupcakes with an offset spatula or a piping bag with your preferred tip attached. (You can also use a ziploc bag with a corner cut off instead of a bag with a tip.)
- Garnish each cupcake with half a strawberry or strawberry slice. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Se ve todo delicioso
I hope you can tell me where I can find the strawberry soda at because I’ve never heard of it. I live on the east coast in New Jersey.
Walmart has strawberry soda….good luck!!!!
Crush makes a Strawberry flavor, as does Fanta. Formerly named Big Red (the soda, not the gum!) is now Barque’s brand Red Cream Soda, which is strawberry flavored. Many stores have generic brands of pop and will have a strawberry flavor, such as Kroger, Walmart, and Bigg’s. I live in Ohio, but if you can get Coke, you can get Red Cream Soda.
Delicioso……
On the 2 ingredient cupcakes you don’t have to add eggs, water or oil? Don’t want to mess them up please help.
No, just follow the recipe as stated and it will turn out. Good luck to you. 🙂
How did they turn out without other ingredients??
How did they turn out without other ingredients?