Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Chocolate strawberry cupcakes are the perfect Valentine’s Day treat! Moist chocolate cupcakes swirled with strawberry buttercream frosting and topped with a chocolate covered strawberry. These chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes are an irresistible cupcake recipe for your recipe box!

Ingredients for Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes

• Dark cocoa powder – I love using Hershey’s Dark Cocoa Powder.
• Chocolate chips – Dark or semisweet chocolate chips.
• Boiling water – To boil water, I use a glass liquid measuring cup that is microwave safe. The water boils in about 90 seconds.
• All-purpose flour – Be sure to level your measuring cups!
• Granulated sugar – For sweetness.
• Baking soda – Leavening agent to help the cupcakes rise.
• Salt – Salt enhances the flavor of the cupcakes.
• Eggs – Room temperature.
• Vegetable oil – You could also use canola oil or another neutral baking oil.
• Vanilla extract – Vanilla extract also enhances the flavor of the chocolate.

Strawberry buttercream frosting

• Unsalted butter – Room temperature, softened butter for easy creaming. You could also use half salted butter and half unsalted butter, just omit any additional salt.
• Powdered sugar – No need to sift unless there are lumps.
• Strawberry reduction – Fresh or frozen strawberries cooked down and blended to create a concentrated strawberry puree. Check out my blog post on How to Make Strawberry Reduction to see how it is made!
• Vanilla extract – A bit of pure vanilla extract adds great flavor to the buttercream.
• Salt – A bit of salt enhances the flavor of the buttercream.
• Heavy cream – Heavy cream helps the buttercream become smooth, light, and fluffy.

Chocolate covered strawberries

• Strawberries – Small to medium sized strawberries will work best. Select strawberries that are shiny, red, and with nice leaves. But then again, if you live in Buffalo, New York and it is January, you do the best you can!
• Dark chocolate coating wafers – I love using Merckens dark chocolate wafers to coat the strawberries. This chocolate does not need to be tempered to firm up and become shiny. If you use regular chocolate chips or a chocolate bar, you will need to temper the chocolate.

How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a cupcake pan with 12 cupcake liners.
2. Combine dark cocoa powder, chocolate chips, and boiling water. Mix and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt.
4. Pour chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
5. Add in vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
6. Portion the cupcake batter into the cupcake liners.
7. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until the cupcakes bounce back when gently touched or an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
8. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

How to Make Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

To make strawberry buttercream frosting, I recommend using a stand mixer for the best results. You can use a paddle attachment or a whisk attachment based on your personal preference. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can also use an electric hand mixer.

1. Whip the room temperature butter for about 5 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale in color.
2. Add in half of the powdered sugar and mix on the lowest speed until the sugar is combined with the butter. Then add the remaining powdered sugar and continue to mix on low speed.
3. Add the room temperature or chilled strawberry reduction and continue to mix on low speed.
4. Add the vanilla extract and salt and continue to mix on low until combined.
5. Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl after this step to ensure everything is well mixed.
6. Turn the mixer to medium-high speed and whip the buttercream for about 3-5 minutes.

How to Make Chocolate Covered Strawberries

1. Wash and dry strawberries. The strawberries should be completely dry to prevent the chocolate from falling off.
2. Pull the leaves of the strawberry up gently so they are not dipped in the chocolate. The leaves will serve as a little handle for dipping.
3. Melt the chocolate wafers. This can be done in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave or over a double-boiler. If microwaving, heat in 30 second intervals, mixing in between until the chocolate is melted. If using a double boiler, stir the chocolate frequently until melted.
4. Dip the strawberries in the melted chocolate by gently holding the leaves in your fingers.
5. Very gently shake off the excess chocolate and place the strawberries onto parchment paper to firm up.
6. If desired, use a piping bag and additional melted chocolate to drizzle onto the strawberries.