First, preheat the oven to 350°F and measure out all of your cupcake ingredients.
Next, line a 12 cup muffin pan with the foil cupcake liners.
Then, in a large mixing bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt with a blending whisk.
In a separate medium mixing bowl, use the hand mixer to whisk the eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.
Then, pour the dry ingredients into half of the wet ingredients at a time, whisking between each addition using the hand mixer.
Spoon the chocolate cupcake batter using a small (1.58 inch) ice cream or dough scoop into the liners.
Lastly, bake for 18- 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely on a cooling rack before frosting or filling.
Strawberry Buttercream Frosting
First, measure out all of the strawberry buttercream ingredients.
Next, thinly slice and dice the fresh strawberries. You will need 1 ½ cups of sliced strawberries.
Then, transfer the strawberries to a blender and blend until a thin puree is reached.If needed, use a silicone spatula to scrape the sides down in between blending to make sure there are no strawberry chunks left.
Next, transfer the room temp butter to a large mixing bowl set in a KitchenAid mixer prepared with a whisk attachment and beat the butter until it’s smooth and creamy.
Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat again until completely mixed.
Then, slowly add the strawberry puree, starting with a ½ cup, mixing again between each addition. Don’t add too much of the puree at one time.You don’t want this frosting to turn out too thin or soupy, so only add the pureed strawberries gradually and as needed. You may not use all of the puree.If your frosting mixture looks like it may be too thin for piping, mix in a little more powdered sugar until you get the right consistency.
This strawberry frosting is ready when stiff peaks form on the tip of the whisk.
Finally, transfer the strawberry frosting to a pastry piping bag prepared with a jumbo piping tip and close off the bag with a piping bag tie.You can use any leftover whole strawberries or strawberry slices to decorate the cupcakes if you would like.
Mini chocolates with sprinkles
First, combine the dark cocoa candy melts and ¼ tsp of coconut oil in the candy melt pot. Melt them together on high, stirring regularly with a silicone spatula.
Then, use a Saucier Drizzle Spoon to carefully spoon the melted chocolate into the candy bar-shaped silicone molds. Scrape off the excess chocolate with a cake spatula. Tap the tray gently on the table a few times to remove any air bubbles.
Next, place the silicone molds on a small baking sheet and freeze them for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 15 minutes. Be sure that the molds sit absolutely flat while the candy hardens!While the candy hardens, rinse and dry the silicone lining for the candy melt pot.
After the candy has hardened completely, carefully remove the chocolates from the silicone molds. Use a small knife to cut away any extra chocolate from the edges.
Then, combine the pink candy melts and ½ tsp of coconut oil in the clean candy melt pot. Melt them together on high, stirring regularly.
After the pink candy has melted, lightly drizzle it on top of the mini chocolate bars with the saucier drizzle spoon.I like to bring all of the hardened mini chocolates together into one big rectangle beforehand, to make drizzling easier.
Immediately apply the Tutu sweet sprinkles while the pink candy drizzle is wet.
Finally, refrigerate the mini sprinkle chocolate bars for 10 minutes to harden completely.
Cupcake assembly
First, use an apple corer to scoop out the middle of each cupcake. Do not discard the extra cake bits.
Then, pour a small amount of strawberry cake filling into each cupcake center.
Re-cover the strawberry filling centers with the extra cake bits from the first step.
Next, pipe the homemade strawberry frosting onto each of the cupcakes.
Finally, decorate the chocolate strawberry cupcakes with the homemade mini sprinkle chocolate bars and serve!
Video
Notes
The recipe makes enough frosting to decorate 12 cupcakes.