Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes

Directions

We’ll start with the strawberry filling because you’ll need to chill that for a few hours (or overnight) so I made it a couple days before I made the actual cupcakes.

If you’re using fresh strawberries, wash the strawberries, cut off the tops, core them and cut them into quarters.  Set aside.  If you’re using frozen, just defrost them and set them aside.

Add the water and cornstarch to a medium saucepan and whisk together until all the cornstarch is dissolved.

Add the cut strawberries along with the sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. 

Turn the heat on to medium and cook until the strawberries are soft – 10 or so minutes.  You don’t have to stir constantly, but you should give it a nice stir every minute or so to make sure nothing on the bottom burns.

When the strawberries have softened, grab a fork and mash them against the sides of the saucepan to break them up.

Lower the heat to low and cook for another five minutes.  This time, it’s smart to stir the entire time so nothing burns.

Take the mixture off the heat, let it sit in the saucepan for 5-10 minutes to cool a bit, then transfer to a glass bowl.  Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to add them to the cupcakes.

And now…on to the cupcakes!

These are pretty simple chocolate cupcakes.

First, line your muffin trays with cupcake cups – about 20.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined.  Next, add in the egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla and mix for a couple minutes until smooth.

Get your water and boil it (probably easiest to just put some water in a kettle, then pour it out into a measuring cup).

Add the water to the batter and mix again until it’s incorporated – it’ll probably take just a few seconds or so.  FYI, the batter will be more watery than you’re probably used to, but don’t worry – it’ll bake up great.

Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake cups, filling each about half to two thirds full.

Bake at 350 for about 12 – 14 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out dry.

Move the pan to a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and let them finish cooling on the rack.

Once your cupcakes are cool you can fill them.

Core each of the cupcakes, making sure you leave some cupcake at the bottom.  You’re just making a hole to pour the filling into.  Don’t throw away the parts you cut out!  Just set them aside.

Get your strawberry mixture from the fridge and spoon it into each cupcake.  Don’t fill it all the way to the top.  What you do here is get the parts you cut out, slice off a little of the top and place it on top of the filling.  Basically, you’re capping the filling so that it’s fully “inside” the cupcake.

Finally, on to the icing.  Since the cupcakes and especially the filling are substantial, I kept the icing purposefully light.  Feel free to use a classic buttercream if you’d prefer!

 To make this version, though, throw the strawberries and regular sugar into a blender or food processor and mix until combined.

Get a strainer and pour the mixture through it into a small or medium saucepan, scraping the solids along the side.  What you’re doing is removing and seeds (and any remaining solids).

Put the saucepan on the stove and bring it to a boil over low-to-medium heat.  Once it starts boiling, lower the temperature to a simmer and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  Note that it will cook down pretty far – there won’t be a ton there.

Take the mixture off the heat.  Let it cool in the saucepan for a bit, then put it in the fridge to cool completely.

Once your mixture is cool, put the heavy cream into a large bowl and whip for a minute or until it starts to get thicker.  Don’t whip it all the way though – we’re going to add the rest of the ingredients partway through.

After the minute, when the cream is thicker than liquid but not yet “whipped cream”, sprinkle in the powdered sugar and cornstarch (don’t drop them as lumps). 

Continue whipping for a couple minutes until peaks form BUT it’s not quite stiff enough yet.  Pour in the vanilla and your cold strawberry mixture and finish beating until you get the stiff peaks of traditional whipped cream.

Note – whipped cream doesn’t last a huge amount of time, so you’ll want to make this just before you’re about to serve it.

Get your cupcakes and spread the strawberry whipped cream over each one.  I used a piping bag because I wanted to try and make them look nice.  You can do that, or just spread it over each one.  It won’t look as good but it’ll still taste awesome!

Makes 20 crazy good chocolate strawberry cupcakes!