Being that I'm obsessed with both cupcakes AND chocolate covered strawberries, I figured I would try combining the two into one single perfect dessert.
What you will need:
-Chocolate cake batter
-Small size strawberries
-Sweet whipped cream or whipped cream frosting
-Semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (chips or broken bar)
-Splash of champagne (around 0.25 cups for 12 cupcakes)
-Piping bag with large star tip
Step 1:
Mix up your cake batter. Line your cupcake pan with liners, fill with batter, and bake until toothpick can go in and come out clean. Optional: Add a handful of chocolate chips or chunks to your batter before baking for extra chocolatey flavor.
Step 2:
Let cupcakes cool to room temperature.
Step 3:
Core cupcakes using a paring knife. Cut in a circular fashion about one half cupcake deep such that you get a nice empty cone shape in the top of the cupcake.
Step 4:
Rinse one strawberry per cupcake and cut off the tops. Place each strawberry into a cored cupcake. You may need to force it into place.
Step 5:
For a light sweet cream frosting, I like to use one cup of whipping cream and one eighth cup of powdered sugar. Whip until fluffy, then add champagne one tablespoon at a time until you get the flavor you want. Once fully whipped, one cup of whipping cream can withstand about 6 or 7 tablespoons of champagne before the whipped cream is no longer strong enough to form peaks. Unless you are a pro at stiffening your whipped cream with gelatin, try not to go overboard on the champagne.
Step 6:
Add your large star tip to a piping bag and fill with the champagne whipped cream. Swirl the frosting onto the cupcakes.
Step 7:
Make and cool chocolate covered strawberries to top the cupcakes. Pour chocolate chips or chunks into a double boiler and stir until smooth. Holding the top of the strawberry, swirl the strawberry in the melted chocolate and place on wax paper to cool. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to harden the chocolate. If you only have medium or large strawberries, try cutting the strawberries in half before dipping in chocolate.
Step 8:
Top each cupcake with a chocolate covered strawberry. Optional: If the idea of making a chocolate covered strawberry is too overwhelming, try cutting the strawberries into tiny little chunks to put over the cupcakes like sprinkles. You can then drizzle the cupcakes with chocolate syrup or add mini chocolate chips to complete the cupcakes.
Step 9:
Enjoy!
