The Best Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

Now that the Super Bowl is over, we can shift our sights to the next food holiday – Valentine’s Day! As a sweet fanatic, I am a huge fan of any holiday that revolves around sugar and chocolate. I can forgo the red roses and romantic greeting cards. For me, it’s all about the food.
I took the Valentine’s Day treat of Chocolate Covered Strawberries and turned them into cupcakes.

Rich chocolate cupcakes get topped with strawberry buttercream frosting, and then finished with a chocolate covered strawberry. These cupcakes are delicious and pretty – perfect for sharing with the ones you love.

This recipe requires several steps – dipping the strawberries, baking the cupcakes, making the frosting, and then assembling. None of these steps are difficult. Just make sure you plan ahead and start with the chocolate dipped strawberries, as they require a couple hours to firm up in the fridge. If you’d like to take a shortcut, you could easily use a boxed chocolate cake mix for the cupcakes, then prepare the strawberry frosting and chocolate dipped strawberry portions of the recipe.

The Best Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

Prep Time25 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time40 mins

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

For the Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1-3 teaspoons heavy whipping cream, or milk
• 1 1.2 ounce package freeze dried strawberries
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

For Ganache:

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 4 ounces about 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate

For Garnish:

• 15 strawberries

Instructions

For the Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 15 cupcake liners.
2. Mix flour, sugars, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
3. Place butter, chocolate, and cocoa together in a bowl and pour boiling water on top. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit two minutes. Mix until smooth and then add in the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
4. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry until smooth.
5. Pour 1/4 cup batter into each paper liner. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Leave cupcakes in tin for 5 minutes before removing onto a cooling rack.

For the Frosting:

1. Place freeze dried berries in the blender and puree until a fine powder. Sift into a bowl to remove large pieces that didn't get blended.
2. Cream butter, cream cheese, and strawberry powder in an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar a little at a time. Add vanilla and then the milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired thickness.

For the Ganache:

1. Place chocolate in a bowl and pour hot whipping cream on top. Cover and let it sit for two minutes and then stir until smooth. Let the ganache cool for about 5 minutes before dipping strawberries.

To Assemble:

1. Once the cupcakes have cooled, pipe on the frosting. Dip strawberries in the ganache and immediately press into the frosted cupcake.
2. Serve within 2 hours or store in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperate for serving.

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