I had a little Galentine’s Day gathering last weekend, and there was one thing I knew right away I wanted to make: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes! These were on my Valentine’s baking list last year, but I made the Strawberry Nutella Swirl Cupcakes instead. Good thing I STILL have multiple packs of freeze-dried strawberries lying around (I swear I will NEVER get to the bottom of my freeze-dried fruit stash).

These are fairly high maintenance cupcakes, as you need to make 4 separate components, but they are all so good:

  1. Chocolate Cupcake Base
  2. Strawberry Buttercream Filling
  3. Chocolate Ganache Topping
  4. Fresh Strawberry Garnish

I loved the way these turned out! They were so cute alongside some conversation heart cookies and other snacks and treats my friends brought over. Would definitely make them again.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Source: Sally’s Baking Recipes

Yield: ~15 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk (I actually used plain almond milk)
  • 1/2 cup hot coffee or hot water

Filling

  • 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberries, ground into a powder
  • 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp whipping cream
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • small pinch of salt

Ganache

  • 6 oz dark chocolate, chopped
  • 2/3 cup whipping cream

+ fresh strawberries and a small heart-shaped cookie cutter for garnish.

Directions

  1. For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 and get out two x 12 cup muffin tins and line with cupcake liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, egg, vanilla and buttermilk.
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, add the hot coffee or hot water, and whisk until smooth and combined.
  5. Pour the batter into the liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool completely before assembling.
  6. For the filling, add all the ingredients to a bowl (or even food processor), and blend until smooth.
  7. For the ganache, add the chocolate to a small, microwave safe bowl, and pour the cream overtop. Heat in the microwave for about 45 seconds to 1 minute, and then whisk until the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth. Let it chill in the fridge for about half an hour until thickened and cool (or let it sit at room temp for a few hours).