Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

I love chocolate covered strawberries, but I really love them when they're placed on top of chocolate cupcakes with the most delicious strawberry frosting. These Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes are my new favorite dessert. A rich chocolate cake is paired with the fluffiest of strawberry frostings and topped with a homemade chocolate covered strawberry. It's like two desserts in one! And did I mention they're small batch?

Yep! This recipe makes a total of 8 cupcakes so you can enjoy them in a smaller quantity with less of each ingredient. If you need a larger batch, you can double or triple the recipe as needed.

There are three elements to these cupcakes: the chocolate cupcake, the strawberry buttercream, and the chocolate covered strawberries. You'll start off by baking the chocolate cupcakes. While those bake you can get started on the buttercream followed by the strawberries. Then you'll carefully assemble all three together for a deliciously decadent dessert!

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED.

• Room Temperature Ingredients:
  • Butter: It’s important that the butter for both the cakes and frosting is softened. In a pinch, you can put your butter in the microwave for about 5 seconds on each side, but watch closely to make sure it is just softening and not melting.
  • Egg: You also want to make sure that the egg is at room temperature to ensure that it is properly incorporated into your batter. If you forget to leave it out before you start baking, place it in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes until it becomes room temperature.

• Measuring Your Ingredients:
  • I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
  • However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.

• Oven Temperature:
  • Make sure to preheat your oven for at least 15 minutes before you start baking.
  • I recommend purchasing an oven thermometer to get to know your oven so you can adjust your baking temperatures accordingly. Some ovens run slightly warmer or colder so its important to know yours to make sure your baked goods come out right.

• Check out My Favorite Baking Tools to see what I use when I bake.

Let's bake!! Preheat your oven to 350º F and prep a cupcake pan by filling it with 8 cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt and set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl with your spatula as needed. With the mixer on low, add the buttermilk. Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternate between adding the flour mixture and the coffee to the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop, carefully scoop 2 tablespoon of batter into each cupcake liner. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and split the remaining batter among the cupcakes until they look even. Bake for 17-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the pan cool on the cooling rack for 15 minutes before gently pulling the cupcakes out of the pan and letting them cool completely on the cooling rack.

Now let's make that buttercream! This strawberry buttercream uses freeze dried strawberries for its delicious strawberry flavor. You'll want to use a food processor to grind them into a powder and then sift the powder to remove the seeds, making sure to measure it once it has been sifted.

Cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth. With the mixer on low, slowly add in spoonfuls of the powdered sugar and freeze dried strawberry powder. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Chill frosting until needed.

For the chocolate covered strawberries, start by placing your washed and fully dried strawberries on a parchment lined baking sheet.
If you're using chocolate wafers, place them in a somewhat shallow heatproof bowl and melt them in the microwave in 10 second intervals, stirring each time, until they are fully melted. If you're using chocolate with coconut oil, follow the same step with the chocolate and then stir in the coconut oil once its melted.

Hold each strawberry by the leaves and gently dip it into the chocolate, turning it around until it is fully covered. If you have a lot of chocolate on it, you can carefully drag it along the edge of the bowl to remove some without exposing the strawberry underneath. If needed, gently dip it back in to add more.

Hold the strawberry with its tip right side up for about 15 seconds to let the chocolate start to set before placing it back on the parchment. This will help to avoid creating a pool of chocolate at the base of the strawberry. Repeat this step with the other strawberries. Use a small spoon to carefully drizzle each strawberry with the remaining chocolate. Place the baking sheet into the fridge for the strawberries to fully set.

Now let's assemble them! Once the cupcakes have cooled, scoop the buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with an Ateco 869 or similar piping tip. Starting in the middle of the cupcake, begin to pipe the frosting in a clockwise motion, moving to the outer rim of the cupcake until you have covered the entire top in a beautiful swirl design. Repeat this with the remaining cupcakes.

Top each cupcake with a chocolate covered strawberry. Enjoy!