Soft chocolate cupcakes topped with a creamy and sweet fresh strawberry frosting!

If you were to open my fridge at any given time you would see loads of fresh berries.  Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries fill each shelf of my refrigerator. They are just as important to my family as milk and bread.

Without fail, we are all out of berries by mid-week.  Well we have a few berries left, you know the ones that  we all try to ignore because they are too bruised, dented or mushy.   Once I toss those berries out, we are left berry-less.  That’s just sad.   It’s so sad, that I will make another trip to the store to restock my fridge with more fresh berries.

I can eat fresh strawberries plain like they are going out of style.  But I love them in savory foods like this bruschetta and in sweets like these cookies.  I love strawberry frosting most of all.   I could just scoop it into a bowl and pretend it’s ice cream, it’s that good!  For this strawberry frosting, I used all the usual buttercream suspects; butter, shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Then I add finely chopped fresh strawberries.  The tartness from the berries work well with the powdered sugar and the fruit naturally colors the frosting the perfect shade of pink.  You could use frozen berries that have been thawed in place of fresh if your prefer.

I added a touch of strawberry extract to my my cake batter to tie in the flavor.  You could add the extract to your frosting if you needed an extra strawberry punch.  One thing to note, if you plan on piping the frosting, be sure your strawberries are chopped finely enough to fit through your piping tip.  I speak from experience on this one.   Another thing to consider is the liquid content: the frosting might be on the “softer side” because of all the juice from the berries.  You may find you need to add more sugar to thicken the frosting.   If you do add more sugar, naturally your frosting will be much sweeter.  I personally find the rich chocolate cupcakes balance the sweet strawberry frosting nicely.  Chocolate and strawberries are such natural pairs.

Mid-week trips to the grocery store to stock up on strawberries are no trouble; stopping myself from making an endless supply of strawberry frosting might prove difficult!

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Yield: 2 dozen

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 48 minutes

A moist chocolate cupcake topped with sweet, fresh strawberry frosting.

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Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devilâ??s food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon strawberry extract
• 1/2 cup warm water

For the buttercream

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup shortening
• 6-7 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped strawberries
• 1/3 cup water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake tin with liners, set aside. In a large bowl combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla, extracts and water. Beat on low until well blended. Turn mixer on medium and continue to beat for two minutes. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop better into each cupcake well until about 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
2. For the buttercream, in a stand mixer, cream together shortening and butter until very smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Batter will be stiff. Add in salt and vanilla. Finally add in strawberries and water one table-spoon at a time until you reach the desired constancy for spreading or piping frosting. You may find you'll need more or less liquid. Spread frosting onto cool cupcakes or spoon frosting into piping bag fitted with the largest tip possible so your strawberries pieces do not clog the opening. Pipe on a generous amount of frosting.

Nutrition Information

Yield 24 Serving Size 1 cupcake
Amount Per Serving Calories 1097 Total Fat 29g Saturated Fat 11g Trans Fat 1g Unsaturated Fat 16g Cholesterol 62mg Sodium 353mg Carbohydrates 212g Fiber 1g Sugar 199g Protein 2g

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