Strawberry Cupcake Recipe Decorated with Cotton Candy Nests

This strawberry cupcake recipe is delicious for adults when served plain.  A simple white cupcake, filled with fresh strawberries and topped with all natural strawberry buttercream icing.  They are pretty with the simple soft pink strawberry icing piped in a swirl on top.   I confess I ate one before I decorated the rest with the candy nests as I am very allergic to the cotton candy.  I promise these strawberry cupcakes taste great plain.  But for kids, we are going to add some fun.

These cupcakes are dressed up with Cotton Candy nests that look like little clouds, with one large and two small candy eggs in bright Spring colours.

Making Strawberry Cupcakes

To make the cupcakes I have included a one bowl white cake recipe I have had forever, but you can absolutely switch it out for a cake mix.  Children certainly won’t mind.

The recipes for the cupcake batter, the fresh strawberry filling and the all natural strawberry buttercream icing are farther down in the post.

While the cupcakes bake, make the fresh strawberry filling.

While the cupcakes cool, make the icing.

Filling the Strawberry Cupcakes

To fill the Strawberry Cupcakes, cut out the center of each cupcake using a cupcake corer or a teaspoon.  Remove a piece of cake from the center of each cupcake. Place a teaspoon of icing in the bottom of the cupcake and then fill the center with strawberries before replacing the cupcake top.

Icing the Cupcakes

If you have a pastry bag for icing cupcakes, fill your pastry bag and add any large cupcake tip you like.  Make a swirl of icing on top of each cupcake.  If you don’t have a pastry bag,  ice the cupcake with a know making sure there is a thick coating of icing on each cupcake.

I purchased my cotton candy at the dollar store so the texture is more like soft clouds of fluff than the long sugar whisps you see on a cotton candy on a stick.   Using whatever type of cotton candy you have, place it around the outside perimeter of your cupcake.

Then add the eggs in the middle.

These cupcakes are bright, colorful, full of strawberry flavour and have candy topping.

You may have noticed the double layers of cupcake papers.  As I wanted to use bright floral cupcake liners for these, I wanted to make sure the colouring in the paper did not transfer to the cupcakes because of my silly allergy.  I was hoping it wouldn’t show in the photos but unfortunately, it did, I could either take photos of the oh so plain white liners or use the colourful ones as well.  What can I say, allergies are awful.

My Hubs finds cupcakes dry, so whenever I make them I put in some sort of filling to make him happy.  Here is another filled cupcake recipe I hope you enjoy.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Apricot Centers and Raspberry Mascarpone Icing