I wholeheartedly believe that there is no sensation quite like biting into a strawberry freshly picked. The flavor, juiciness, and color are unrivaled by the supermarket impostors.
Fresh strawberries are on my list of top ten favorite foods, ever.
While I usually eat my fresh strawberries on yogurt or by themselves, I opted this time to create something baked that showcased the fresh strawberries. When I explained the concept of this cupcake to M, he looked at me like I was crazy for wanting to put fresh strawberries in the middle of a cupcake and concluded that a filling would be more along the lines of a cupcake.
I politely disagreed and continued on with my plan (sometimes I listen to him… sometimes.)
What’s the overview of the cupcake:
Cupcake: While this looks like an ordinary chocolate cupcake, I actually wanted to bring the whole cupcake into this idea of natural baking. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose, sucanat instead of a highly processed sugar, and avoided using powdered sugar. (of course you can always use all-purpose and regular sugar as a substitute.)
Inside: Fresh strawberries and chocolate ganache.
Topping: Whipped cream with freshly pureed strawberries (and a chocolate covered strawberry.)
My verdict? This cupcake was a success. Two of my favorite things crammed together into a cute cupcake couldn’t possibly be bad!
- Cupcake:
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sucanat
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup good-quality cocoa powder
- ½ cup buttermilk
- Filling/Topping:
- 1½ cups diced strawberries
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoon heavy cream, divided
- ¼ tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoon sour cream
- ⅓ cup chopped chocolate
- Preheat oven to 350˚.
- In a medium bowl (or a bowl of a stand mixer) combine butter and sucanat, beat until light and fluffy- about 3 minutes. Add in eggs and vanilla, continue to beat (I use the whisk attachment on my kitchen aid) until incorporated, scrapping down as needed. Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients followed by half of the milk. Beat until just combined. Scrap down sides and repeat. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until batter is combined- don’t over mix.
- Divide batter into 12 cupcakes and bake for 18-20 minutes or until cupcake springs back when pressed. Remove from pan and let cool.
- Once cupcakes are cool, take a knife and cut out the center/top. Slice off the the cake from the top of the cupcake and set aside top.
- In a bowl, heat chocolate and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream in the microwave at 70% power until the chocolate is smooth (only 20-30 seconds.) Dice strawberries.
- Place strawberries in the hole created in the cupcake and drizzle chocolate over strawberries. Cover with cupcake top and set aside. Finish remaining cupcakes. I used about ½ cup of strawberries for this.
- In a small food processor, pulse remaining strawberries (about 1 cup) and honey until pureed. In another bowl, whisk heavy cream (either by hand or with a mixer) until it thickens. Finally, fold strawberries and sour cream into whipped cream. Spread on top of cupcakes and top with a chocolate covered strawberry if desired!
Stay in Touch
Pingback: Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes « Bashfulbao
Pingback: Chocolate strawberry cupcakes
Pingback: » Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes