Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
Delicious rich chocolate cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese buttercream frosting made with freeze dried strawberries topped with a chocolate covered pretzel heart.
Equipment
- electric mixer with paddle attachment(s)
- whisk and silicone spatula
- small chopper or food processor
- large 16" piping bag and open or closed star piping tip
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 6 ounces warm freshly brewed coffee (can sub for buttermilk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) (softened, room temp.)
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup freeze dried sliced strawberries (grinds down to ¼ cup powder)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Optional Topping Ideas
- extra freeze dried strawberry slices
- chocolate covered strawberries
- chocolate covered pretzels
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ and prep a 12 cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. Brew 6 ounces of coffee, set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients including the all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients including sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs until fully emulsified. Whisk in the vanilla extract until combined.
- Add a third of the dry flour mixture into the wet mixture and whisk, then pour in half of the warm coffee, mixing until combined. Add in another third of the dry ingredient mixture, whisking in and adding the remaining warm coffee. Finally mix in the remaining dry ingredient mixture and whisk just until combined.
- Pour the chocolate cupcake batter into the cupcake lined pan, filling the liners roughly ⅔ of the way full. Avoid overfilling the liners!
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
- Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them. They should not be warm at all or you risk melting the frosting.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Buttercream
- In a small chopper or food processor, pulse the freeze dried sliced strawberries into a fine powder. Start with ½ of sliced freeze dried strawberries will leave you with around ¼ cup of powder. This only takes seconds to do.
- In a stand mixer or using an electric hand mixer, use a paddle attachment to whip the room temperature softened butter and cream cheese on medium speed until it turns light and pale in color.
- Add in the freeze dried strawberry powder and whip on medium speed until combined. Add in half of the powdered sugar, mixing on low speed and scraping the bowl down as necessary to fully combine the ingredients.
- Add in the heavy whipping cream, remaining powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until combined, then upping the speed to high and whipping the strawberry buttercream for 2-3 minutes more to help smooth it out and fully combine. Using a silicone spatula, scape the frosting down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Fit a 16" piping bag with a medium to large sized open or closed star piping tip. Fill with the strawberry cream cheese buttercream frosting.
- Once the cupcakes have fully cooled, pipe the strawberry buttercream on top into a layered swirl. Top with a freeze dried strawberry slice or a chocolate covered pretzel. Enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Video
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