Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

Chocolate covered strawberries are one of my favorite indulgent treats. I love the way the chocolate and strawberry flavors enhance each other. I also love cupcakes. So, when I was brainstorming about cupcake flavors, I thought, "What better flavor than chocolate covered strawberry?" It is a perfect marriage of these two delectable treats.

I had several different ideas about how to make the cupcakes. I wanted the strawberry to be covered in chocolate to represent an actual chocolate covered strawberry. I finally settled on a version similar to a bumpy cake cupcake.

I happened to finish making them just before I was headed to a meeting at church. Naturally, I took some with me for my fellow committee members to taste. Do you want to know what they thought? They loved them! They couldn't believe they were gluten free (sound familiar?). Sounds like I am well on my way to my goal of creating gluten free food that doesn't taste gluten free. Yay!

What You Will Need:
KitchenAid Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Medium Scoop
Cupcake Tin(s)
Cupcake Liners
Cooling Racks
Blender or Food Processor
Gallon Size Zip Closure Freezer Bag
Small Offset Spatula
Solo Cup

Ingredients:
For Cupcakes
1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Large Eggs, room temperature
1 cup Cocoa
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cup Soy Flour
3/4 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
3/4 cup Potato Starch
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cup Milk, hot

For Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter, room temperature
3 cups Powdered Sugar
2 cups Fresh Strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/8 cup Powdered Sugar

For Chocolate Dip
2 1/2 cups Chocolate
4 Tablespoons Canola Oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together soy flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthum gum and salt. Set aside.

In KitchenAid Mixer bowl, beat butter with paddle attachment on medium until smooth - approximately 2 minutes.

Slowly add sugar. Beat on medium-high until fluffy - approximately 4 minutes. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add cocoa and vanilla. Beat at medium for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with rubber spatula.

Add eggs one at a time. Beat for 1 minute on low-medium after each egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with rubber spatula.

With mixer on low, slowly alternate between adding dry ingredients and milk approximately 1/4 cup at a time. Mix until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl with rubber spatula.

Scoop batter into prepared cupcake tins.

I was lucky enough to have my daughter, Olivia,
helping me with these cupcakes. I love
when she helps me in the kitchen! Isn't she adorable?!

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.

While cupcakes are cooling, prepare strawberry buttercream frosting.

In a blender or food processor, puree strawberries with 1/8 cup of powdered sugar. Set aside.

In KitchenAid Mixer bowl, beat butter with paddle attachment on medium until smooth - approximately 2 minutes.

Add strawberry puree to butter and mix on low until blended.

With mixer on low, slowly add powdered sugar. Mix on medium-high until fluffy.

Transfer frosting to a gallon size zip closure freezer bag (The storage bags aren't as thick, and may not be able to handle the pressure of squeezing the frosting out of the bag.) and clip the corner.

When cupcakes are completely cooled, frost them. (This frosting is thicker than your average buttercream. It doesn't pipe quite as well.)  I ended up piping a good amount of frosting onto the cupcakes, then spreading it with an offset spatula.

Freeze frosted cupcakes for at least 30 minutes. Just before you are ready to pull the cupcakes out of the freezer, prepare the chocolate dip. 

Mix chocolate and oil in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each increment, until melted. Let cool for 5 minutes. (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, because that is what I used for my bumpy cake cupcakes. When my husband tasted the cupcakes, he reminded me that I usually use milk chocolate for my chocolate covered strawberries. He thought milk chocolate would be better. Luckily I hadn't dipped all of the cupcakes yet. So, I also melted some milk chocolate and used it for a couple cupcakes. I definitely think the milk chocolate compliments the strawberry frosting better than the semi-sweet. Do I have to admit that he is right?)

Pour the chocolate into a solo cup.

Dip the cupcakes into the chocolate.

These are my milk chocolate version.
Since I only melted enough chocolate for two
cupcakes, it was difficult to dip them. I
ended up spreading the chocolate instead.
They don't look quite as polished. I definitely
recommend the dipping method.

They almost look too good to eat. Notice I said almost. Haha! It was hard to eat just one.

"You can't buy happiness, but you CAN buy cupcakes. And that's kind of the same thing, right?"

Speaking of buying cupcakes, I am considering selling my baked goods, especially my cupcakes and cookies. Let me know what you think in the comments. I would love to hear from you.

Sheryl