These chocolate strawberry cupcakes taste just like chocolate-covered strawberries! Moist chocolate cupcakes filled with silky chocolate ganache and topped with strawberry swiss meringue buttercream frosting made with freeze-dried strawberries give them a punchy, real strawberry flavor.
If you're a fan of chocolate, you're going to love these Valentine's day inspired cupcakes! They use my base chocolate cupcake recipe, just like in these s'mores cupcakes and mocha cupcakes, which is a perfect fluffy chocolate cupcake base lending itself to any flavor profile. But, if you prefer vanilla cupcakes with strawberry filling, I won't be upset.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Three components - rich and fluffy chocolate cupcake (made by hand), creamy chocolate ganache (made by hand), and strawberry swiss meringue buttercream (with a stand mixer) - the smoothest frosting you'll ever have! Oh, plus a fresh strawberry on top of each one.
Creative chocolate cupcakes - The combination makes them taste just like a chocolate-covered strawberry but in cupcake form! You can even top each cupcake with an actual chocolate-covered strawberry to really bring the idea home.
Balanced flavor - While you may think all of these parts make the cupcake too sweet, it's perfectly balanced. The type of cocoa in the cupcake lends to a mellow cupcake base, the chocolate ganache gives a pop of rich chocolatey sweetness, and the strawberry icing is lightly tart and not cloyingly sweet (like an American buttercream would be).
Ingredients
- Sour cream. Keeps the cupcakes moist. Must be at room temperature.
- Hot coffee. Hot water can also be used, if coffee is not available. Coffee helps to bring out the chocolate flavor in the cupcakes.
- Heavy whipping cream. Gets added to the semi-sweet chocolate to create the ganache.
- Unsalted butter. Must be at room temperature for the SMBC. Too cold or too warm will split the buttercream. Read my post on Room Temperature Butter to find out more.
- Freeze dried strawberries - this recipe uses a dried version of the fruit blended into a powder to give the swiss meringue buttercream an intense strawberry flavor. Using real strawberries would make the frosting too wet, but it still tastes like a super fresh strawberry frosting. Use "freeze-dried" not "dried" fruit.
- Cocoa powder - dutch-processed cocoa powder gives the cupcakes a deeply mellow chocolate flavor rather than being overly sweet.
- Chocolate - dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate (in bar form) get chopped up and mixed with hot cream which turns into a silky, thick ganache piped into the center of each cupcake.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Fill the beautiful cupcakes with a strawberry jam instead of chocolate.
- Use any freeze-dried fruit in the buttercream, like this chocolate raspberry cake pairing.
- In a pinch for time? Use store-bought chocolate cake mix to make the cupcakes.
- Add ½ cup mini chocolate chips to the batter for an extra rich chocolate cupcake.
- Go all in on the chocolate flavor with some chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and fill the centers with strawberry jam.
Timing Tips!
1. Make the cupcakes and get them into the oven.
2. Make the ganache while the cupcakes bake and cool. Add the bowl to the fridge and stir every few minutes to speed up the process.
3. Whip up the plain base for the swiss merignue buttercream.
4. Blend the freeze-dried strawberries.
5. Add the strawberry powder and finish making the buttercream.
6. Fill the cupcakes with ganache.
7. Pipe on the strawberry icing.
How to Make This Recipe
One: Sift together the dry ingredients, whisk together the wet ingredients, then combine the two until smooth.
Two: Add the hot coffee to the batter and gently stir to combine.
Three: Fill the cupcake liners evenly until all batter is used.
Four: Bake until lightly domed, then cool completely.
Five: Mix together the chocolate and hot cream and stir until combined, then cool until it's peanut butter consistency.
Six: Make the strawberry swiss meringue buttercream while the cupcakes finish cooling.
Seven: Core the cupcakes so there's a ½" opening in the center of each cupcake.
Eight: Add the ganache to a piping bag or ziplock bag and cut off the tip. Squeeze in enough ganache until it just rises out of the top.
Filling tip #1: There are tools specifically for removing the center of cupcakes, but I find that the round end of a wooden spoon works perfectly. Press down in the center of the cupcake firmly, but do not press the spoon the entire way to the bottom. This compresses the cake down towards the bottom.
Filling tip #2: Gently tap the cupcakes on the counter to let the ganache fill the opening. Add more ganache to top off each hole!
Nine: Transfer the strawberry frosting to a piping bag fitted with a piping tip and frost a swirl onto each cupcake.
Ten: Add a fresh strawberry or chocolate-covered strawberry to the top of each cupcake before serving.
Expert Tips
- Blitz the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder right before adding them to the buttercream. If they sit too long, they get affected by the moisture in the air and will clump up.
- Use a cupcake corer, hand of a round wooden spoon, or anything similar to make the hole in the chocolate cupcake.
- The chocolate ganache should be similar to a soft peanut butter consistency when it's ready to use.
- Use a piping bag or ziptop bag with the corner snipped off to easily fill each cupcake core.
- Trust the process for the strawberry swiss meringue buttercream. It will look worse (and curdled) before it gets better, but will turn into a thick, silky frosting!
- Use an open star tip in a piping bag for a beautiful swirled effect when frosting the cupcakes.
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Recipe FAQs
Almost all standard grocery stores now sell freeze-dried strawberries and fruit, but the locations within the store can be different. I've found them in the produce section, by the dried fruits and nuts, in the organic section.
Because cocoa powder absorbs moisture from liquid ingredients, you need to make sure you have enough sugar, fat, and liquid to accommodate the drying effect (like in this recipe). Chocolate cupcake batter should be relatively thin to account for this and will spring up perfectly during baking.
I used at Wilton 1M tip to pipe the frosting on to these cupcakes. Other great options include: Wilton 2D or Wilton 2A tips.
If you don't have piping tips, use a freezer ziplock bag and instead of swirling, squeeze the buttercream out in the center of the cupcake until it almost hits the edges. Then, lift slightly and squeeze again until the second layer creates a tier on top of the first layer.
Yes! Part of the reason why these make the best cupcakes is that they can easily be made a day in advance and hold up perfectly. They can stand at room temperature for 24 hours, or can go in the fridge for 2 days (tightly covered). Let them come to room temperature before serving.
You can also make all components individually and then assemble them before you're ready to serve.
Storage
Store the chocolate strawberry cupcakes at room temperature for 24 hours, then tightly covered in the fridge for 2 days. Allow the cupcakes to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours after refrigerating before enjoying so the buttercream and ganache can soften back up.
The chocolate cupcake base can be stored lightly covered at room temperature for up to 4 days. The ganache should be covered and placed in the refrigerator for one week, then left to sit at room temperature and stirred before use. The strawberry swiss meringue buttercream can be stored at room temperature for 3 days.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes You'll Love
What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
- If you'd like to make the recipe in a different pan, use the pan size converter.
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📖Recipe
Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Filling
Equipment
- Spice grinder or small blender
- 12 hole muffin tin
- piping tip
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream room temperature
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup coffee or water steaming hot
Ganache filling
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 2 large egg whites
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered freeze-dried strawberries buy whole and grind into a powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fresh strawberries for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Cupcakes
- Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.¾ cup all-purpose flour, ¾ cup granulated sugar, ⅓ cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla until combined.1 large egg, ⅓ cup sour cream, ⅓ cup vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the hot coffee or water and carefully stir to combine.½ cup coffee or water
- Fill each cupcake liner halfway full, and bake for 13-15 minutes. The top of the cupcake will spring back when touched. A toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean with a few moist crumbs.
Chocolate Ganache
- While the cupcakes bake, prepare the ganache. Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and heat the heavy cream until it almost simmers. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand fo 1 minute.½ cup semi-sweet chocolate, ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- Using a rubber spatula or spoon, stir the mixture from the center, slowly moving outwards until the mixture comes together completely. Let cool to room temperature until it thickens. To pipe into the cupcakes, it will need to be similar to the consistency of peanut butter. Not runny, but not hard.
Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Separate the eggs and reserve the yolks for another time. Add the eggs, sugar, and salt to a heatproof bowl. Add 1 inch of water to a saucepan over medium heat and place the bowl on top.2 large egg whites, ½ cup granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Whisk the sugar and egg whites to combine, then whisk every 15 seconds or so. The mixture will start to turn opaque and will look similar in consistency to a powdered sugar glaze. Heat the mixture until the sugar is completely absorbed.
- Note: This will be about 160℉ on a thermometer. You can also check by rubbing your thumb and finger together in the mixture. If you can still feel sugar granules, continue heating and whisking. The mixture should feel rather warm, but not burning hot.
- Transfer the mixture to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment mix on high speed for until stiff peaks form. Feel the sides of the bowl - if it's still quite warm, wait until it is room temperature before adding the butter.
- With the mixer running on low or medium low, add one piece of butter at a time. Wait to incorporate a new piece until the first is fully incorporated. After about half of the butter goes in, the buttercream may look curdled or split. This is normal - continue adding the butter until it’s gone, then increase the speed to medium high and whisk until smooth.10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Pulverize the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder then add it to the buttercream along with the vanilla and mix until combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom, and give it one more mix.¼ cup powdered freeze-dried strawberries, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assembly
- Using a round tool that is about ½” in diameter, push down in the middle of each cupcake to create a hole (don't go the entire way to the bottom). I use the bottom of one of my wooden spoons.
- Transfer the ganache to a piping bag and cut the tip so the opening is slightly smaller than the hole in the cupcake. Squeeze ganache into each cupcake until it's flush with the top of the cupcake.
- Transfer the strawberry buttercream to a piping bag pre-fitted with a star tip. Pipe swirls onto the top of each cupcake.
- Slice 6 large strawberries in half and place one piece into the top of each frosting swirl before serving.Fresh strawberries
Emily says
Holy smokes! Every bit of this is perfection! The icing is light and packs a flavor punch and the ganache puts these over the top! A hit with my family and work family!
The Cozy Plum says
So glad you (and your fams) loved them, Emily!
Shelby says
Holy moly these are good! So good that I made one dozen for work over Valentines, then turned around and made 2 more dozens that weekend to give to friends! The icing especially is DELICIOUS! I never tried a Swiss meringue before and was surprised how much easier it was than I thought. I loved that it wasn’t super sweet. These will 100% be a recipe I come back to. Holiday excuse not needed.
The Cozy Plum says
Shelby, this is the BEST news and review! Love that you made them again. Thanks so much for the feedback, and totally agree with you on the Swiss meringue buttercream.