Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

If you’re a fan of chocolate dipped strawberries these are the cupcakes for you. Fluffy chocolate cupcakes, strawberry buttercream frosting, and a special surprise inside! 

Tell me this isn’t the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert! I took the concept of chocolate dipped strawberries and turned them into CUPCAKES! Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of Valentine’s Day I’m pretty sure that we can all get excited about Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes. The combination of rich chocolate and fresh juicy strawberries is the best!

If you need a treat for Valentine’s, Galentine’s, an anniversary, or birthday I’ve got ya covered. If these cupcakes aren’t your thing, you can try my Strawberry Shortcake Cake, Strawberry Cupcakes, Strawberry Pie or Homemade Brownies.

How To Make Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes:

These cupcakes are made up of three parts: cupcake, frosting and garnish. There’s even a special surprise inside the cupcakes!

Chocolate Cupcakes: These are my favorite fluffy and moist chocolate cupcakes (I’ve also used this base recipe for my Chocolate Orange Cupcakes). The cake is flavored with cocoa powder, melted chocolate chips, and a touch of espresso powder. They have a fantastic chocolate flavor, and a perfectly tender crumb. No mixer is needed, these cupcakes come together with a bowl and whisk in a matter of minutes.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting: This flavorful frosting gets its strawberry flavor from a combination of freeze dried strawberries and fresh strawberry puree. This ensures that the frosting has a prominent strawberry flavor without using any artificial colors or flavors. This frosting is bursting with the flavor of sweet, juicy strawberries.

Cupcake Filling: After baking, add a dollop strawberry jam right into the center of each cupcake. This sweet surprise adds another layer of strawberry flavor.

Garnishes: Here’s where you can get creative. Choose your favorite garnishes: sliced fresh strawberries, mini chocolate chips, chocolate ganache, chocolate sprinkles, or a chocolate dipped strawberry.

Recipe Tips:

1. Don’t overfill your cupcake liners. Each should be filled about ⅔ to ¾ full with batter. Depending on the exact size of your cupcake pan, you might have a few tablespoons of batter leftover, if so, just discard it.
2. Adjust the frosting consistency as necessary. Because the frosting is made with fresh strawberry puree it tends to be on the thinner side (remember it will thicken up once chilled). If necessary, you can thicken it by adding a bit more powdered sugar. Be careful not to add too much extra powdered sugar as it can get too sweet.
3. Store prepared cupcakes in the refrigerator and bring to cool room temp before serving. These are best the day they are made.

How To Add Filling Into Cupcakes:

I use the “cone” method to create a hole into the center of the cupcakes. Use a small paring knife to cut a circle out of the very center of each cupcake. Insert the knife at an angle and cut about halfway down into the cupcake.

Remove the cone shaped piece of cake from the center and trim off the point, leaving a flat “top” that you can place back on the cupcake after spooning in your filling.

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Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

If you're a fan of chocolate dipped strawberries these are the cupcakes for you. Fluffy chocolate cupcakes, strawberry buttercream frosting, and a special surprise inside! 

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Dessert

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 58 minutes

Servings: 12 cupcakes

Calories: 528kcal

Author: Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

Chocolate cupcakes:

• ▢ 1 cup all purpose flour
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ▢ ⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• ▢ 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• ▢ ½ cup boiling water
• ▢ ½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt (not non-fat)
• ▢ ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ cup strawberry jam, for filling

Strawberry frosting:

• ▢ ¾ cup freeze dried strawberries
• ▢ ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ▢ 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy, plus more, if needed
• ▢ ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 heaping tablespoon strawberry jam
• ▢ 2 tablespoons milk OR 5-8 fresh strawberries*, plus more, if needed

Garnishes:

• ▢ sliced strawberries, mini chocolate chips, chocolate sprinkles, chocolate ganache, or chocolate dipped strawberries., see note

Instructions

Cupcakes:

• Adjust oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk cocoa powder, chocolate chips, espresso powder, and boiling water until smooth and combined (the chocolate chips should be completely melted). Add sour cream, oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract. whisk until well combined. Add the flour mixture and whisk until combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
  
• Fill the prepared muffin cups about two-thirds to three-quarters full. Depending on the size of your muffin cups you might have a few tablespoons of batter leftover. Bake the cucpakes for 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached, but no raw batter. Be careful not to overbake. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and place them directly on the rack to cool completely.

Frosting:

• In a small food processor, blend freeze dried strawberries until they turn into powder. Pour the powder into a fine mesh sieve, discarding the solids and seeds, keeping the fine powder that came through the sieve. Set the powder aside, you should have a scant ¼ cup.
•  With a hand mixer, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the beater as necessary. Add the powdered sugar, ½ a cup at a time, beating until combined. Add all of the freeze dried strawberry powder, vanilla extract, jam, and either 2 tablespoons of milk OR 2 tablespoons strawberry puree. Beat on medium speed until fully combined, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beater as needed.
• If necessary, adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar to thicken, or more milk/strawberry puree to thin it out.

Assembly:

• Use a small paring knife to cut a circle out of the very center of each cupcake. Insert the knife at an angle and cut about halfway down into the cupcake.

  Remove the cone shaped piece of cake from the center and trim off the point, leaving a flat "lid" that you can place back on the cupcake.
• Spoon about 2 teaspoons of strawberry jam into the hole in each cupcake, then press the reserved lid on top.
• Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice (I use a large open star tip) and garnish as desired (see note).

Notes

*To use fresh strawberry puree instead of milk to thin out the frosting, add 5-8 strawberries to the food processor or blender (after using it for the freeze dried strawberries). Process the fresh strawberries until pureed. You’ll need 2-3 tablespoons of fresh strawberry puree.

Chocolate ganache garnish (optional): Microwave ⅓ cup chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons heavy cream until melted and combined (this happens quickly, about 25 seconds or so). Cool slightly. Transfer to a small ziptop bag and snip off the corner of the bag. Drizzle the ganache on top of the frosted cupcakes (as pictured).

Nutrition

Calories: 528kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 120mg | Potassium: 256mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 58g | Vitamin A: 454IU | Vitamin C: 125mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.

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This recipe was updated February 2020.