Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Despite the frigid middle of this week (go home, April; you’re drunk), I am still so excited that it is finally spring! To celebrate spring and hopefully encourage continued sunshine, I made these scrumptious birthday cupcakes. To me, moist chocolate cake is the absolute BEST kind of cake, and strawberry buttercream made with fresh strawberry puree just shouts spring!

To make these cupcakes I used my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe, and adapted this recipe for strawberry buttercream to fit my batch of cupcakes. One of the reasons this cake recipe has earned the spot as my favorite for cupcakes is because it doesn’t call for coffee! The many, many chocolate recipes that call for coffee encourage non-coffee drinkers to still use them because you can’t taste the coffee flavor. Well, I have nothing against including coffee in my cake batter, but since I don’t drink coffee, I never have it at home! This lovely recipe doesn’t call for coffee, and yields delightful, moist, rich chocolate cupcakes.

These cupcakes would be a perfect ending to your Easter dinner, and are such a snap to make. Heaven knows you don’t need a difficult dessert after the Easter feast you’ll prepare! And all of these ingredients are likely already in your house!

Shout out to my papa for the gorgeous red KitchenAid mixer! It was a Christmas present but this is only the second time I’ve used it (sheepish smile) because I never found a recipe that was worth christening it with! But it sure made these cupcakes a snap, so I’ll be using it all the time now. Thanks, Dad!

What are your favorite spring desserts?

• Servings: 12
• Difficulty: moderate
• Print

For the cupcakes:

1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. + 2 tbl flour
1/4 c. + 2 tbl cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. homemade baking powder (or store-bought if you’re not allergic like me!)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners. Add all of the dry ingredients to your mixing bowl. On low speed, mix together until completely blended.

Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla to the bowl and mix all ingredients on medium speed until combined.

Scrape the sides of the bowl if your batter has started to creep up the walls, and add the boiling water. Mix gently on low speed until just combined. Your cupcake batter will be very watery, but don’t worry! This is how it is supposed to be.

Using a measuring cup, pour equal amounts of batter into each cupcake liner.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Remove the muffin pan from the oven and let the cupcakes cool completely. While you’re waiting, make your frosting!

For the strawberry buttercream:

1 1/2 sticks of butter, room temperature
2 c. powdered sugar (add more if you want it sweeter or thicker)
5-7 small strawberries, washed, tops removed, and cut in half
1 tsp. homemade vanilla

To help your butter soften quickly, cut it into small pieces about 1 tbl. in size. Place the butter pieces on a small plate, barely touching, and let sit at room temperature until softened.

Add the strawberries to a food processor and puree until smooth and thoroughly liquified.

Add the butter pieces to the bowl of your stand mixer, and cream the butter at a high speed until it is soft and fluffy. Even though I didn’t, you’ll probably get better results using a paddle attachment if you have it!

Reduce the speed of your mixer. Adding only about one half cup at a time, slowly pour the powdered sugar into the bowl while the mixer is still running. Wait until each addition is fully combined before adding more. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly add the pureed strawberries and vanilla until all of the frosting ingredients are thoroughly combined. Beat the frosting on medium high speed until it is fluffy.

Frost your cupcakes with the delicious buttercream and be sure to sneak plenty of “tastes.” To make sure you are only serving your guests the best, of course!

Enjoy, and Happy Fiesta Friday!