Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes

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These Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes are a moist vanilla cupcake topped with strawberry milkshake icing, then finished off with chocolate ganache, sprinkles and a cherry! It’s such a fun & delicious cupcake for spring and summer!

Smitten with these strawberry cupcakes? You won’t want to miss out on my delicious Strawberry Truffle Cupcakes!

Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on a glass cake stand

Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on a white plate

Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes

So this past weekend I had a wonderful weekend in Santa Barbara with a great group of bloggers. Unfortunately my flight home was not so fun. American Airlines cancelled my morning flight before I even made it to the airport. The good part of that was that I got to hang out with my bloggy bestie Julianne from Beyond Frosting for a little longer. The bad part was that the new flight they put me on would’ve had me leaving LAX at midnight and not getting home until the next day. #notokay

I called to change the flight and got a super rude guy on the phone. I was able to get a different flight, but was still only going to land in Atlanta at 11:30pm.

Then…tornados. All over the east coast apparently. At the very least there were sirens going off and hail in Charlotte, where my connection was now going through. I’d initially had a direct flight, but when they canceled it, there apparently weren’t any others. So I flew into Charlotte after the weather stopped being cray and then got delayed by a couple hours because they didn’t have a crew. That airport was a mess. Stranded, tired people everywhere.

My flight finally took off from Charlotte just after midnight. I didn’t walk in the door at home until just before 2:30 am. Maybe I should’ve just taken that original flight after all. It probably would’ve been a less exhausting experience.

Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on a clear glass cake stand
Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on a cake stand with a bite out of one

Oh well. I made it home and that was the main thing. I can’t say I’m dying to ever fly American again though.

I wish I’d had some of these cupcakes with me. They’d have made me feel better. Not only because they are kind of adorable and happy, but they are also darn tasty. The cupcake is super moist and made using my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe.

The strawberry icing is made with the hubs’ favorite – strawberry Nesquick. He puts so much of the powder in his milk that it’s practically a thick strawberry milkshake. I have to admit – it’s tasty.

Close-up of Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on a glass cake stand
Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on a clear glass cake stand

And it went really well in the icing. The cupcake is then topped with some chocolate ganache. What sundae is complete without chocolate sauce of some kind?

I piped the ganache on top of the cupcake, but you could also just use a spoon to drizzle it on if that’s easier. I added some sprinkles and a cherry for the finishing touches.

These cupcakes are perfect for a fun party or get together and are great for the warm weather ahead. They were a hit with everyone too! So yummy!

Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on a white plate

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Print
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Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes on glass stand close up
Recipe

Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes

  • Author: Lindsay
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 18 minutes
  • Total Time: 48 minutes
  • Yield: 12-14 Cupcakes
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

These Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes are a moist vanilla cupcake topped with strawberry milkshake icing, then finished off with chocolate ganache, sprinkles and a cherry! It’s such a fun & delicious cupcake for spring and summer!


Ingredients

CUPCAKES

  • 1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 cup salted butter, room temperature
  • 3 egg whites
  • 3 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup milk

STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE ICING

  • 3/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup Strawberry Nesquick powder
  • 56 tbsp water or milk

GANACHE AND TOPPING 

  • 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 3 tbsp salted butter
  • sprinkles
  • 1214 cherries

Instructions

CUPCAKES

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add butter, egg whites, vanilla, sour cream and milk and mix on medium speed just until smooth. Do not over mix.
4. Fill cupcake liners a little more than half way.
5. Bake 18-20 minutes.
6. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to finish cooling.

ICING

1. Combine butter and shortening and mix until smooth.
2. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Add Strawberry Nesquick powder and 2-3 tbsp of water or milk and mix until smooth.
4. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
5. Add a more water or milk until desired consistency is reached.
6. Pipe icing onto cupcakes.

GANACHE AND TOPPING 

1. Put chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl.
2. Add heavy whipping cream and butter to bowl with chocolate chips.
3. Microwave mixture until cream begins to boil, about 1-2 minutes.
4. Whisk mixture until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes, until the chocolate begins to thicken.
5. When slightly thickened, drizzle ganache over cupcakes with a spoon, or pipe it on.
6. Finish off cupcakes with some sprinkles and a cherry.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 Cupcake
  • Calories: 567
  • Sugar: 50.6 g
  • Sodium: 123.6 mg
  • Fat: 36.6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 59.1 g
  • Protein: 4.7 g
  • Cholesterol: 68 mg

Filed Under:

Enjoy!

Strawberry Sundae Cupcakes collage

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32 Comments
  1. Laura

    I made these cupcakes this weekend for a summer BBQ, and they were both beautiful and delicious! Thanks for the great recipe.

    1. Lindsay

      I typically use salted butter when also using shortening. If you are going to use all butter though (and leave out the shortening), I’d use half salted, half unsalted. It’s more of a flavor preference, really.

  2. Ally

    Thank you for this recipe! I absolutely love it, and with my in progress baking business it was a huge hit! They are beautiful!

  3. Lindsey+@+American+Heritage+Cooking

    Ugh American is the worst. But you are right – cupcakes make everything, even flying, better!! These cupcakes are gorgeous! Perfect little cups of hot fudge topped joy! 🙂

  4. Jolena @TheRubyKitchen

    What a genius and fun way to make the frosting! These look so fun and bring back memories of going to the ice cream parlor with my sister when we were kids. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Michelle { A Latte Food }

    Bad flights are the worst! The absolute worst. But these cupcakes, on the other hand, look like the absolute best! That cake looks so light and fluffy–dying over how good they look!

  6. Dorothy+@+Crazy+for+Crust

    I cannot believe what you had to go through to get home! Stupid cross country flights!! Glad you made it safe and sound and I am in LOVE WITH THESE CUPCAKES!

  7. Julianne @ Beyond Frosting

    Oh my gosh, remember the time I suggested you go through Charlotte instead of Miami? Yeah, I don’t either. Glad you got home, eventually. 🙁

    1. lifeloveandsugar@gmail.com

      Ha! It totally wasn’t your fault. I bet Miami had problems too. The east coast was just brutal from the storms. 🙂

  8. Jocelyn @BruCrew Life

    Wow! That is quite the flying experience! I can’t wait to hear more about the weekend away though! And these cupcakes are gorgeous! We love that strawberry Quik powder too…in fact I have a malt cake with a very similar frosting that will be posting next week 🙂

  9. Ashley+|+Spoonful+of+Flavor

    So sorry to hear about your horrible flight issues, but I am glad that you had a great time in California! I can’t wait to hear all about the trip. In the meantime, I will enjoy these incredibly beautiful and delicious strawberry sundae cupcakes! Love that you made them pink!

  10. Johlene@FlavoursandFrosting

    Love Sundae cupcakes – these are adorable and even better with strawberry Nesquick! Sorry about your delayed flight episode.. sounds awful!!

  11. Mir

    Girl, I boycotted American years ago. They screwed my travel plans one time too many! I’m sorry you had a hard time. I live on the east coast and so we were under a tornado watch. Just became violent storms in the end, though!
    These are SO pretty! They look like they belong in an ice cream shop, so mission accomplished!

  12. Annie @ Annie's Noms

    Oh my goodness, these are amazing!!!! Absolutely adore them. And I love Nesquik powder in frosting too, I know it’s like totally artificial, but it’s a guilty pleasure haha, can’t get enough of the strawberry one and it really does make amazing frosting!

Lindsay
About Lindsay

I'm a wife and a mom to twin boys and a baby girl! And I've got a serious sweets addiction! Bring on the treats!

Scripture I’m Loving

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29