1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners (paper cups or cupcake liners) or butter/spray them.

For the cake:

1. Beat soft butter for 20 seconds in a large bowl with an electric mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. 
2. Add sugar gradually while you continue beating, and mix for 3 minutes after adding all of it. The mixture should be light in color, fluffy, and the sugar will have partially dissolved. 
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl regularly. 
4. Sift the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking powder) together in a bowl, or have them measured and sift them directly over the egg batter. 
5. Add them in 2 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla in 1 part. That means you start and end with the dry ingredients. 
6. Mix and integrate the batter well, but don't beat much at this point. After adding the flour cake batters should not be beaten too much as it will develop gluten and toughen the baked cake. 
7. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tins. I use a large cookie scoop, it's easier to use the same amount of batter for each cupcake. 
8. Bake for about 30 minutes, until they rise, the tops crack a little and a tester inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. They are dense so make sure they're fully baked. You might need some more minutes. 
9. Cool completely on a wire rack before filling and frosting. 

For the filling:

1. Wash, dry, and stem the strawberries. Do this once you have the cupcakes cooled and are ready to assemble them. 
2. Cut them into little pieces, mix with the sugar and reserve. 

For the topping:

1. Put the heavy cream and cream cheese in a medium or large mixing bowl. 
2. Add sugar and beat with an electric hand mixer at medium speed until firm peaks (stiff peaks) form, it will take about 4-5 minutes, depending on the speed of your beaters and the size of the bowl (smaller bowls take longer). 
3. Beating: if using the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat at low speed, especially towards the end so you don't curdle the topping. I use an electric hand held mixer for this reason.
4. Important: whipped cream can curdle very quickly when over beaten. To avoid this, I always beat it at medium-high speed until soft peaks start to form, lower the speed to medium and continue beating until medium-firm peaks form. Then, I finish beating by hand with a whisk until I get stiff peaks. It takes a bit of arm muscle, but it's very hard to over beat cream by hand. 
5. Put into a piping bag with a star or smooth tip and refrigerate until ready to add to cupcakes. 

To assemble:

1. Scoop the top center of each cupcake. I use OXO One-size melon baller, which makes it super easy. But you can use a spoon or small paring knife. 
2. Fill the scooped center of the cupcake with strawberries, mounding just a little. Repeat until all are filled.

3. Pipe whipped cream on top, covering the berries completely.

4. Finish with a half or whole strawberry on top of the whipped cream.