A Fresh, Naturally-Flavored Strawberry Frosting
Today’s strawberry frosting is a sort of choose-your-own-adventure recipe. When I set out to write this post, I didn’t plan on offering two variations of this recipe, but after lots of taste-testing, I decided both versions were too good not to share. My strawberry frosting can be made using either fresh, frozen, or freeze-dried strawberries. No matter which method you choose, I guarantee it will yield an authentic, fresh strawberry flavor with a natural bright pink color, perfect for covering your favorite cakes or cupcakes (hint: pair it with my dark chocolate cupcakes for a chocolate/strawberry cupcake… yum!). Today we start with a buttercream frosting base which we then infuse with the real fresh taste of strawberries. Let’s get to it!
What You Need
Strawberries. For today’s recipe you will only need one or the other: freeze dried strawberries or fresh strawberries (or frozen, quartered strawberries, which we will treat exactly the same as we would fresh berries). I detail the differences in the frostings made with either further on in the post, but you really can’t go wrong either way. Powdered sugar. An essential ingredient for nearly all of my frosting recipes, this thickens the icing. Do not try to substitute granulated sugar, which will not work. Butter. Another classic buttercream frosting ingredient, you’ll want this to be softened, but not so soft that it’s melting/oily. I opt for unsalted butter and then add salt to best control the flavor of the frosting. Vanilla and salt. These two ingredients are added in small quantities to enhance the flavor of the frosting. While you could omit the vanilla extract for a purely strawberry flavor, I found in this recipe the vanilla enhances and deepens the berry flavor, rather than detracting from it. Cream. Heavy cream is only necessary if you are using freeze-dried strawberries. Because they are completely dehydrated and so have no moisture to them, they tend to make the frosting dry. A splash of cream will bring the frosting back to a smooth, spreadable, easy-to-pipe consistency. If you don’t have cream, milk will work, but you will need a bit less as it is thinner.
As always, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Strawberry Frosting Using Fresh or Frozen Berries
For fresh or frozen berries, the steps will be the same. If you’re using frozen strawberries, you do not need to thaw them first. SAM’S TIP: It’s important that your fresh strawberry buttercream be thoroughly mixed, but when using fresh fruit try not to over-mix as sometimes, when over-beaten, the frosting can separate. This is not a risk when using freeze-dried berries.
…And Using Freeze-Dried Berries
What’s the Difference in Frosting made with Fresh or Freeze-Dried Berries?
Alright, so you have options here, but what’s the difference between the two frostings, anyway? The frostings shown above were made with fresh and freeze-dried strawberries, respectively, and no artificial coloring was added. Here’s the rundown on the differences between the two
What to know about fresh/frozen strawberry buttercream:
This is shown on the above cupcake on the left. It is a paler pink in color with small, pretty specks of fresh, brightly colored berries. If you use fresh, ripe berries that have a brilliant flavor, you may notice that the frosting has a more natural, authentic flavor. This is a great frosting if you have great-tasting, fresh summer berries you’d like to use!It’s a bit more fussy and time-consuming to make. Cooking all of the water out of the berries takes more time and must be done properly or your frosting could be runny.It tends to be a bit softer than the freeze-dried strawberry buttercream and doesn’t hold up quite as well to the heat.
What to know about strawberry frosting made with freeze-dried berries:
This frosting is depicted in the cupcake on the right above. It is a deeper, much more vibrant pink in color and is mostly uniform in color with much smaller, less noticeable specks of red strawberry throughout. This flavor tends to be more consistent and is a great option if it’s not berry season!Freeze-dried berries are less fussy. Yes, there’s the business of pulverizing or grinding them into powder, but other than that there’s no cooking and it’s just a quicker, cleaner, and more foolproof process.This frosting tends to be firmer/sturdier than fresh strawberry frosting and holds its shape a tad bit better. While no frosting holds up well in the heat, this one performed a smidge better in my hot studio than its fresh counterpart. While the fresh buttercream started to melt into itself in the heat, this frosting held its shape without issue.
Whichever strawberry you choose to start with, I’m sure you’ll love the end results. Enjoy!
Pair this frosting with one of these recipes!
Vanilla CakeVanilla CupcakesFresh Strawberry CakeChocolate Cake
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
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