Rich and decadent chocolate cupcakes with a hidden ripe strawberry inside! A fun take on the Valentine’s Day classic. YUM.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with liners. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients for cupcakes except the sugar. (Flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugars, vanilla and melted butter.
3. Add half of the wet stuff to the dry stuff, followed by the milk, then add the last of the wet ingredients and whisk until just combined. The batter will be pretty loose.
4. Pour batter into 12 cupcake liners until it’s about halfway filled. Do not overfill!
5. Bake cupcakes for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees F. A tester should come out clean from the center of the cupcakes. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
6. For frosting, add butter and cocoa powder to mixing bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Beat until very smooth, about 3-4 minutes. Add vanilla and then start adding the powdered sugar in one cup batches alternating with 1 tablespoon of milk. After 3-4 cups of powdered sugar, the frosting should be soft, but hold it’s shape well. If it seems very stiff, add in more milk.
7. To finish cupcakes, wash strawberries and dry them very well. Slice off stems and slice strawberries vertically a few times. Then press into a cupcake right in the center so the stem part of the strawberry is in the middle of the cupcake.
8. Use a medium to large piping tip to pipe chocolate frosting around the strawberries. Optionally, garnish with coarse sugar.
9. Cupcakes are fine for a few hours at room temperature or store overnight in the fridge. They are best at room temperature though.