Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

It’s about time I got this last batch of cupcakes up on the blog, eh? These are actually a cupcake I’ve posted here before (remember the Café Zupas cupcake?) but I wanted to include the full set 🙂 So. I present…the chocolate covered strawberry cupcake. Sorry the directions are forever long, ha!

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Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

A delicious chocolate cupcake with strawberry cream cheese frosting, dipped in melted chocolate and then topped with a chocolate covered strawberry, for a cupcake inspired by the sophisticated chocolate covered strawberry.

Recipe for the chocolate cake

Makes 12 standard-size cupcakes.

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup natural cocoa powder
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup boiling water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

In a larger bowl, beat the oil and sugar. Then, beat in the eggs.

Now you will gradually be adding the dry mixture to the oil-sugar-egg mixture. Do that until you’ve incorporated the dry mixture completely. Just don’t over-mix here.

Finish by incorporating the vanilla and boiling water.

Baking time! For cupcakes, fill your liners 2/3 full and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Recipe for the strawberry cream cheese frosting

Makes enough for 12 cupcakes topped with lots of frosting.

Ingredients

8 oz. strawberry cream cheese
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3–4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Cream the cream cheese and butter together for a good few minutes.

Gradually beat in the powdered sugar. The more you add, the stiffer your frosting will be. Make sure it’s stiff enough to hold its form when piped onto cupcakes.

Assembly

Place a large round tip at the end of a piping bag and fill the bag with frosting.

Make sure your cupcakes are completely cooled. Then, pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes: Start in the middle and then create a large circle around the perimeter, leaving about 1/8 of an inch between the edge of the frosting and the edge of the cupcake. Continue upward in tighter and tighter circles to create a large, tiered mound of frosting on top of the cupcake.

Place your cupcakes in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare your chocolate by melting 16 oz. of semisweet chocolate chips and 2 TB coconut oil in the microwave at 50% power at 30 second increments until melted. Make sure to use a tall bowl or cup that will be wide enough for dipping. You will want to time the melting of your chocolate so that it sits for about 10 minutes to cool once melted.

Remove the cupcakes from the freezer, and one at a time, hold the frosted cupcake upside down and dip in the melted chocolate, leaving a small bit of frosting at the base of the cupcake undipped. As you dip, twist the cupcake in a circular motion. Then, pull the cupcake straight up and let the excess chocolate drip off. Then, turn over quickly.

To top with a chocolate covered strawberry, immediately dip a small strawberry into the melted chocolate, and then set it on top of your newly dipped cupcake. Let the cupcake cool until the chocolate sets.