Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes
Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes encompass strawberries in two ways with the surprise tucked inside. Lucious fresh strawberries as well as intense freeze dried strawberries ensure tremendous flavor is delivered.
Servings: 6 cupcakes
Calories: 858kcal
Equipment
- 6 well jumbo muffin pan or 12 well regular muffin pan.
Ingredients
Strawberry Batter for Cupcakes
- 8 ounces strawberries (1 cup pureee)
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- ½ cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (210 grams)
- Red Food coloring as needed, optional
Chocolate Ganache
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 3 ounces semisweet chocolate (85 grams)
Strawberry Buttercream
- 1.2 ounce package freeze dried strawberries
- 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar (200 grams)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (114 grams or 1 stick)
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- red food coloring, optional but suggested
Instructions
Strawberry Batter for Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a jumbo muffin tin or a regular muffin tin with paper cups. Set aside.
- Rinse the strawberries and trim the tops off. Place them in a blender or processor and puree. There should be 1 cup of puree.
- Whisk sugar and oil until combined. Add egg and yolk, whisking to combine.
- Add the strawberry puree.
- Combine the salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour. Whisk together. Add to the above.
- Fill the cups about ¾ full.
- Bake for aboutr 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool before continuing or these may be frozen for later.
Chocolate Ganache
- While the cupcakes are cooling, heat the cream until it is very hot but do not boil it.
- Add the chocolate and submerge it under the cream. Let it sit for 3 or 4 minutes, then whisk it to combine completely.
- Cool the ganache but don't let it set up. Set aside.
Strawberry Buttercream
- Be sure to remove the desicant from the package. Combine the freeze dried strawberries and powdered sugar in the bowl of a processor. Process until they are a pink powder.
- Place the butter, almond extract and the strawberry powdered sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Mix on low until it comes together, then raise to medium or medium high and beat until it is light and the volume has increased. Add the food coloring if using and mix in, scraping as necssary.
Assembly
- After the cupcakes have cooled completely, cut a hole in the top. Using a small knife pointed down and towards the center, go around the center of the cupcake to remove some of the cupcake to make room for the ganache. Be sure to save that piece to replace it.
- Cut away the pointed end of the piece you removed. You only need a thin piece of cake to go seal the top.
- Fill the hole with the ganache pretty much up to the top. Place the top over the ganache and press down slightly to make a flat top.
- Use a #6 open star tip in a pastry bag to pipe the buttercream on top of the cupcakes.
- The cupcakes can remain at room temperature for a couple of days. They can also be frozen. Freeze them until hard, then wrap individually in foil. Freeze up to 2 months. To thaw, unwrap them and thaw in the refrigerator for best results or at room temperature where they will, most likely, condensate a bit more but be fine.
Notes
There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.
As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.
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The cupcakes can be frozen after baking or after completion. Freeze hard, then wrap individually in foil and freeze up to 2 months. To thaw, unwrap them and thaw in the refrigerator for best results or at room temperature where they will, most likely, condensate a bit more but be fine.
The freshest, darkest red strawberries will yield the most taste in the batter.
Freeze dried strawberries are key to the strawberry buttercream.
100% chocolate is best for the ganache. I don't recommend chocolate chips.
While red food coloring is optional, it sure makes the batter and buttercream look more vibrant and inviting.
Don't whisk the chocolate ganache too enthusiastically or you will get air bubbles.
Nutrition
Serving: 6cupcakes | Calories: 858kcal | Carbohydrates: 108g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 118mg | Sodium: 228mg | Potassium: 281mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 79g | Vitamin A: 765IU | Vitamin C: 92mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 4mg
