When Crusader Stacy and I started brainstorming cupcakes ideas for our Passionately Pink Bake Sale, I knew I wanted a naturally pink frosting. That idea, paired with looking for an excuse to make Sprinkles Cupcakes’ strawberry cupcake recipe (featured on Oprah.com in June 2009), solidified my cupcake project.
The recipe was easy to follow, although if I’d had my standing mixer at the time it would have been even easier! I wish I had noticed prior to getting started that the recipe only yields 12 cupcakes. Since I didn’t, I tried getting 24 cupcakes and ended up with 16-ish. For some reason the cake batter didn’t really rise either (I seem to have this problem with from-scratch recipes), so the cupcakes ended up being relatively small.
The cake was dense and crumbly, and would have benefited from a strawberry filling. But, the frosting, oh the frosting! It was divine. It had the flavor of a strawberry milkshake and a perfectly smooth consistency. Although everyone seemed to like the cupcakes and said good things about them, I would recommend a different cake recipe. But definitely use Sprinkles’ frosting recipe!
– Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)
Cupcake Crusaders 
When I have fruit in a cupcake recipe I include baking soda because of the acid in the fruit also won’t hurt with a little buttermilk also.
Thanks, Cynthia! Another baker also told me about adding baking soda, but when I saw baking power, I got confused and thought maybe that was what I was told before. So, thank you! I won’t forget again!
The Sprinkles cupcakes I have tasted were all dry and dense, so maybe the recipe is just weird? But that frosting does sound delicious! And these are gorgeous.
I’ve used this strawberry cake recipe (http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/10/pink-lady-cake/) to make cupcakes before, and they turned out well. The recipe makes a ton of cupcakes, though, so you may want to divide it in half. This cupcake recipe would also probably be good with strawberries: http://eatswimshop.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/raspberry-cupcakes-with-blood-orange-buttercream/
Thanks, Jen! I’ll check those recipes out the next time I make these, because the frosting has to be done again!
I’ve also had the same experience with Sprinkles before too, but have only personally tried the red velvet and it was a day or two old, so I tried to be open minded. But I guess Candace Neldon needs to add some baking soda to her cupcakes! š