Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes
These chocolate strawberry cupcakes are made from a fluffy yet rich chocolate cake, filled with strawberry jam, then frosted with vanilla swiss meringue buttercream and decorated with a fresh strawberry! They look gorgeous and taste amazing, they’re perfect for parties.
Start with the cupcake batter. This one is super easy, you just combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another, then whisk together. Make sure there aren’t any lumps of flour when you’re done mixing, that would probably be the biggest pitfall with this recipe (as soon as you don’t see flour anymore, stop mixing! Overmixing makes dense cupcakes). I use delicious ingredients like instant espresso powder, dark cocoa, and nice vanilla extract in the batter to make it even better.
I fill the cupcakes with strawberry jam, but feel free to substitute with raspberry jam, Nutella, or praline! I would match the decoration on the top with the filling, so if you do raspberry jam top with raspberries. Likewise, if you use Nutella top with a Ferrero Rocher, or with praline use caramelized nuts for toppers.
For the buttercream, I make swiss meringue buttercream. Essentially, after heating egg whites and sugar in a bowl over boiling water, you whip them up and slowly add in room temperature butter until you get it silky smooth. I have some tips below if you experience curdling/stiff buttercream!
Check out some of my other desserts here, especially my reimagined black forest cake, chocolate brownies, and classic lemon bars!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup hot water
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 6 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup melted chocolate, cooled (optional)
Filling/Decoration
- 1 cup strawberry jam
- 18 strawberries, halved
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line 3 cupcake tins with cupcake liners (enough for 36 cupcakes). If you don’t have enough, you can bake in batches (bake 12 at a time). Set aside while you make the batter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: vegetable oil, eggs, egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla, white sugar, brown sugar (sugar is considered a wet ingredient in baking). Stream in the hot water slowly so that you don’t cook the eggs.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then whisk until just combined and there aren’t any more flour lumps. The batter will be wet.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill each cupcake liner about 1/2 – 2/3 full. Bake for 13-15 minutes, inserting a toothpick and making sure it comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes, then remove and bake additional batches if necessary.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Heat about 2″ of water in a medium pot until it is boiling. To a completely clean and dry bowl, add 6 egg whites (make sure there aren’t any traces of yolks, this can mess up the meringue) and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Put the bowl over the boiling water, making sure it isn’t touching the water.
- Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160ºF and the sugar is dissolved. Transfer the bowl with the egg white mixture to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is stiff (it doesn’t droop) and the bowl is cool to the touch on the bottom.
- Cut the softened, unsalted butter into 1″ cubes and add slowly to the buttercream, beating constantly. Once all the butter is added, add the vanilla, salt, and optionally stream in the chocolate. Set aside.
- Tips: If your buttercream is very stiff or even separates, place it back over the boiling water for 30-60 seconds and then transfer back to the standmixer to keep beating. If your buttercream is too soup, place it in the fridge for 10 minutes and then take it back out to beat.
Assembly
- Use a paring knife to core each cupcake (you can also use the bottom of a large piping tip). Spoon in about 1-2 tsp jam, then top with the cake that was removed. Use a French star nozzle piping tip to pipe the buttercream in a swirl, then top with a halved strawberry. Enjoy!
Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup hot water
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 6 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup melted dark chocolate, cooled optional
Filling/Decoration
- 1 cup strawberry Jam
- 18 strawberries halved
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line 3 cupcake tins with cupcake liners (enough for 36 cupcakes). If you don't have enough, you can bake in batches (bake 12 at a time). Set aside while you make the batter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: vegetable oil, eggs, egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla, white sugar, brown sugar (sugar is considered a wet ingredient in baking). Stream in the hot water slowly so that you don’t cook the eggs.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then whisk until just combined and there aren’t any more flour lumps. The batter will be wet.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill each cupcake liner about 1/2 – 2/3 full. Bake for 13-15 minutes, inserting a toothpick and making sure it comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes, then remove and bake additional batches if necessary.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Heat about 2" of water in a medium pot until it is boiling. To a completely clean and dry bowl, add 6 egg whites (make sure there aren't any traces of yolks, this can mess up the meringue) and 1 1/2 cups sugar.
- Put the bowl over the boiling water, making sure it isn't touching the water. Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 160ºF and the sugar is dissolved. Transfer the bowl with the egg white mixture to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
- Whisk for 10-15 minutes until the meringue is stiff (it doesn't droop) and the bowl is cool to the touch on the bottom.
- Cut the softened, unsalted butter into 1" cubes and add slowly to the buttercream, beating constantly. Once all the butter is added, add the vanilla, salt, and optionally stream in the chocolate. Set aside.
- Tips: If your buttercream is very stiff or even separates, place it back over the boiling water for 30-60 seconds and then transfer back to the standmixer to keep beating. If your buttercream is too soup, place it in the fridge for 10 minutes and then take it back out to beat.
Assembly
- Use a paring knife to core each cupcake (you can also use the bottom of a large piping tip). Spoon in about 1-2 tsp jam, then top with the cake that was removed. Use a French star nozzle piping tip to pipe the buttercream in a swirl, then top with a halved strawberry. Enjoy!