Name: Beauty and the Beast Cupcakes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 box yellow cake mix; 1 cup water; 1/3 cup vegetable oil; 3 large eggs; 1 cup strawberry preserves or jam; 1 stick salted butter, softened; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 tablespoon Instant Lemon Pudding; 4 cups powdered sugar; 1 tablespoon half and half or whole milk; Yellow food coloring; Wilton Rose Icing Decorations, 8-Count; Wilton white sugar pearls

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Light and flavorful, these strawberry filled Beauty and the Beast cupcakes make the perfect sweet treat for a princess party or just a fun surprise your little Disney fan!

Beauty And The Beast cupcakes on glass plate

We are big fans of all the Disney princesses but Belle just happens to be my favorite Disney princess of all time! In fact, I even met Paige O’Hara, the voice of Belle in the original animated version of the movie. My kids thought I was a total dork for being so excited (moms aren’t supposed to get excited about those things) but I didn’t care!

Paige O'Hara, the voice of Disney princess Belle

While there’s nothing like the original, we love the live action movie too. I thought Belle cupcakes would be a fun idea for a Beauty And The Beast movie night and of course my girls agreed. These delicious cupcakes are super easy to make and just as much fun to eat.

Not only that, they also make the perfect sweet treat for a Beauty And The Beast birthday party. Just skip the birthday cake and make these instead! Filled with strawberry filling and topped with a delicious lemon butter cream frosting, even Mrs. Potts would approve of these beautiful cupcakes.

How to Make Beauty and the Beast Cupcakes

Ingredients for Beauty and the Beast cupcakes

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a standard sized muffin tin. If you don’t have liners, you can spray the tin with nonstick cooking spray instead.

Step 2: Combine cake mix, water, oil and eggs In a large mixing bowl. Use a hand or stand mixer to mix on medium speed until well blended

Step 3: Fill each muffin tin 2/3 full with cupcake batter.

Step 4: Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before adding the strawberry filling.

Step 5: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with a stand or electric mixer until it becomes light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract.

Step 6: Mix in the lemon pudding mix, then slowly add powdered sugar, one cup at a time. In between each cup of powdered sugar, add some of the half & half or milk. Continue mixing until creamy, about one minute.

Mixing ingredients for lemon buttercream frosting

Step 7: Add a few drops of yellow food coloring and fill a piping bag with the frosting.

Step 8: Fill a cupcake injector with strawberry preserves or jam. Carefully inject filling into the center of the cupcake.

Filling beauty and the beast cupcakes with strawberry filling

Step 9: Top with yellow frosting, then sprinkle with white sugar pearls. For the finishing touch, take candy roses and place one on top of each cupcake.

Can I Use Vanilla Cake Mix?

This recipe calls for boxed yellow cake mix to match the color of Belle’s dress in the ballroom scene. However, you can easily swap it out with other cake mixes. You can even switch to a chocolate mix to make chocolate cupcakes instead.

Just remember that you’ll be filling the cupcakes with strawberry jam, so if you’re using other mixes, be sure to choose a flavor that goes well with strawberries.

How Can I Make My Cupcakes More Moist

Want your cupcakes to be extra moist? There are several things you can do:

Add a small box of pudding mix to the cupcake batter
Replace the milk/Half & Half with plain sour cream or yogurt (don’t use flavored yogurt or it’ll change the taste of the cupcakes
Be careful not to overcook them

beauty and the beast cupcakes on striped towel

More Tips

Make Beast themed cupcakes but using chocolate cake mix for the cupcake, then decorating them with either a combination of chocolate and blue frosting or chocolate and yellow.
My favorite thing about these cupcakes is how easy they are. However, if you’re in a hurry, you can use store bought icing instead. Just add your lemon pudding mix and yellow food coloring and you’re good to go..
Want to make your cupcakes even fancier? Bake them in gold foil liners, then add these elegant cupcake wrappers (totally made for royalty!).
Switch things up by replacing the red rose on some cupcakes with these Beauty And The Beast cupcake toppers

Having a Beauty And The Beast themed party? You’ll want to check out these ideas too!