The Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. I loved going to school as a kid knowing it was Valentine’s Day. We would tape our brown paper bags to our desks, walk around the room and hand out little Valentine’s cards to everyone in the class. It was such a fun ‘holiday’ growing up. Not to mention, the abundance of cinnamon hearts and heart shaped foil wrapped chocolates!

As an adult, Valentine’s Day has become just another day for the most part. This year, I was asked to incorporate “love” into a blog post and express what it means to me. After some careful thought and consideration, I figured the best way to speak to this is to create a top 10 list of the things I love in my life. Here is what I came up with (in no particular order):

1. My beautiful friends and family. That is clearly a given if you read my blog on a regular basis.
2. My 3 crazy cats that I share my home with. They drive me insane, but they’re amazing.
3. Sleep. If you know me well, you know I will sleep until Noon every day if given the chance.
4. Travelling anywhere and everywhere. I am truly obsessed.
5. Baking on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. It is more relaxing than yoga to me.
6. The smell of hockey rinks. Playing hockey is the most natural feeling I have ever experienced, even after a 15 year hiatus. Amateur hockey rinks have this distinctive smell of frozen ice and hockey equipment. It’s not a particularly amazing smell, but it reminds me of my childhood and I just cannot get enough of it.
7. Marathons of Dateline on TV. I clearly was a detective in a previous life.
8. The first 3 Star Wars movies. I’ve seen them all literally over 100 times and I still watch them to this day.
9. Sharks. Yes, you read that right. I’m fascinated with them and watched Shark Week on Discovery Channel before it become ‘cool’. My dream is to cage dive with Great Whites. I will do this – mark my words.
10. Chocolate. I’m addicted. I can’t get enough.

Because Valentine’s Day is so synonomous with chocolate, I decided to feature The Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake recipe on the blog. It is seriously delicious. It is rich with chocolate flavour and very moist. You also cannot go wrong with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting! It has the perfect amount of sweetness yet doesn’t have that artificial strawberry flavour that most icings have.

 Let’s start by making the strawberry puree to go into your buttercream icing, as it needs to cool completely.

Place strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth.

Transfer strawberry puree to a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring often.

Reduce to medium-low heat and reduce puree by at least half, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool completely.

Should look like the image above – nice and thick.

While this cools, let’s make our delicious chocolate cupcakes!

In a medium-sized mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fully combined.

Melt your 2 ounces of chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler.

Once the melted chocolate is cool enough to touch, add it to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.

Should look like chocolaty wet sand.

Next, add in your 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks one at a time until just combined.

Now mix in your oil.

Then your sour cream.

And your vanilla.

Mix until everything is just combined. You do not want to over mix.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a separate medium-sized bowl.

Ensure that the ingredients are mixed well after sifting.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in three additions, mixing until just combined after each addition.

Finally, add in your room temperature water.

Mix until just combined.

Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 2/3 of the way full.

Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for approximately 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Immediately remove cupcakes from the cupcake tin and place on a cooling rack or on the counter to cool to room temperature.

Now the fun part – let’s make our delicious buttercream icing!

Beat butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until light and fluffy.

Beat 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar into butter until just blended.

Beat 2 tablespoons of your cooled strawberry puree into butter mixture until just blended.

Next, beat in your vanilla.

Next, beat another cup confectioners’ sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons strawberry puree.

Do this two more times.

Beat last 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar into mixture until just blended.

Pipe your delicious strawberry buttercream frosting onto your chocolate cupcakes.

Or slather it on by hand.

It will taste delicious either way.

Top with some cute sprinkles and serve to the people you love.

I really love chocolate.

I also really love cupcakes.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

2016-02-06 20:25:55

Yields 12

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Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

18 min

Total Time

38 min

Prep Time

20 min

Cook Time

18 min

Total Time

38 min

For the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes

1. 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 2 ounces of your favourite chocolate (I used 70% dark chocolate)
4. 2 large eggs, room temperature
5. 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
6. 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
7. 2 tsp vanilla
8. 1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
9. 1 cup all-purpose flour
10. 1/2 tsp salt
11. 1/2 tsp baking soda
12. 1/2 cup cocoa powder
13. 1/2 cup room temperature water

For the Fresh Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

1. 2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
2. 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3. 1 tsp vanilla
4. 3-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted, divided

Let’s start by making the strawberry puree to go into your buttercream icing, as it needs to cool completely

1. Place strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Transfer strawberry puree to a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring often.
3. Reduce to medium-low heat and reduce puree by at least half, about 20 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely.

While this cools, make your delicious chocolate cupcakes

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fully combined.
2. Melt your 2 ounces of chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler.
3. Once the melted chocolate is cool enough to touch, add it to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until just combined.
4. Should look like chocolaty wet sand.
5. Next, add in your 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks one at a time until just combined.
6. Now mix in your oil, vanilla and sour cream.
7. Mix until everything is just combined. You do not want to over mix.
8. Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a separate medium-sized bowl. Ensure that the ingredients are mixed well after sifting.
9. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in three additions, mixing until just combined after each addition.
10. Finally, add in your room temperature water. Mix until just combined.
11. Pour batter into cupcake liners, about 2/3 of the way full.
12. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for approximately 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
13. Immediately remove cupcakes from the cupcake tin and place on a cooling rack or on the counter to cool to room temperature.

Make our delicious buttercream icing

1. Beat butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until light and fluffy.
2. Beat 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar into butter until just blended.
3. Beat 2 tablespoons of your cooled strawberry puree into butter mixture until just blended.
4. Next, beat in your vanilla.
5. Next, beat another cup confectioners’ sugar, followed by 2 tablespoons strawberry puree. Do this two more times.
6. Beat last 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar into mixture until just blended.
7. Pipe your delicious strawberry buttercream frosting onto your chocolate cupcakes.
8. Top with some cute sprinkles and serve to the people you love.
9. Enjoy!

By Claudia's Cookbook

Adapted from Cupcake Project

Adapted from Cupcake Project

Claudia's Cookbook http://www.claudiascookbook.com/

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting recipe adapted from: Allrecipes