Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

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If you love chocolate covered strawberries, you’ll adore chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes! Sweet strawberry cupcakes are covered in chocolate ganache for a dessert inspired by the classic confection.

My family is always clamoring for me to make more cakes and cupcakes, and strawberry cupcakes have been at the top of their request list for years.

I love using strawberries in desserts, but mainly in summer when I can get big juicy berries for strawberry mint ricotta tart or strawberry chiffon pie.

These easy cupcakes use strawberry puree, which means you can make them any time of year. They’re perfect for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, birthdays, or “just because.”

After all, who can say no to cupcakes, especially ones drenched in chocolate?

Why you’ll love this recipe

These chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes were inspired by those chocolate-covered berries we’ve all come to expect for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. But frankly, they’re better!

Unlike the coated berries, the chocolate won’t fall off these cupcakes.

The hard chocolate always falls off the berry. And because the berries are too big to eat in one bite, you’re left with a mess and half a naked berry. Awkward. Turning the idea into cupcakes solves the problem. 

You can use fresh or frozen (and thawed) berries.

While I love making these when fresh strawberries are at their peak, frozen berries work too! 

Since we are pureeing the berries, it’s fine if they are soft from thawing or a little misshapen. (Just grab some pretty ones for garnish if you want.)

There’s no fussy frosting to make, or piping bags to deal with.

Even though I agree that buttercream frosting is delicious, I sometimes like to keep things simple when decorating cupcakes.

Ganache always seems so fancy, but it’s ready in a flash. Dip your cupcakes in and you’re set!

The cupcakes are easy to make.

Making these strawberry cupcakes from scratch is quite easy and much faster than you think. 

It helps to have a stand mixer, but a hand mixer works just as well, and both make quick work of the batter.

It also seems fitting for a sweetheart to present a cupcake you baked from scratch, don’t you think?

Ingredients for strawberry cupcakes

You’ll need a few ingredients to be at room temperature, so grab those ahead of baking time.

To make these cupcakes, you’ll need:

All-purpose flour – Make sure you measure your flour by spooning it into the measuring cup, then leveling off with a bench scraper or knife.

You can swap in an all-purpose gluten-free blend if you need these cupcakes to be gluten free (make sure to check your other ingredients as well).

Baking soda and baking powder – For leavening

Unsalted butter – The butter should be softened, but not warm. You’ll know it’s the right temperature when your finger can gently press into it, not smoosh.

Granulated sugar – It’s sugar.

Eggs – Use eggs that are at room temperature. You can let them sit on the counter for a while, or place in a bowl of warm water briefly.

Milk – The milk should also be room temperature. If you choose to warm it in the microwave, be very careful that you do not overheat the milk. It should only need a few seconds to come to room temperature.

Vanilla extract – I always recommend using pure vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla. 

Strawberries – In order to make ½ cup of strawberry puree, you’ll need approximately 4 ounces of fresh strawberries. 

You’ll also need 9 strawberries for decorating, if desired.

Heavy cream – Also labeled as heavy whipping cream, this is used to make the ganache.

Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate – Chocolate chips work great for the ganache. If using a chocolate bar, make sure to break it into small pieces.

How to make strawberry cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 350°F and line muffin pans with 18 paper liners.

Stem 4 ounces of strawberries and place in a blender or food processor. Pulse until completely smooth. 

You should have about ½ cup of strawberry puree. Set aside and save the remaining strawberries for garnish.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set this aside.

In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, making sure they are completely blended in before continuing. 

Beat in the vanilla and fresh strawberry puree.

Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk, starting and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until smooth, and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Once all of the ingredients have been added, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat for 1 minute to ensure smoothness.

Now, divide the cupcake batter among the prepared cups. A large cookie scoop or trigger ice cream scoop is helpful here. You can also use a measuring cup or carefully pour in.

Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let them cool briefly in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

How to decorate chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes

I know some people get flummoxed by the idea of creating frosting for cakes, so ganache is your new best friend. All you need is cream and chocolate (whatever variety you like best), and absolutely no decorating tools.

It reminds me of when I was kid and we made frosting using the Jiffy boxes. We didn’t have any tools, so they only way to decorate cupcakes was to dunk ‘em right into the frosting.

Ganache is just the grown-up version.

To make the ganache topping, all you have to do is heat the cream in a small saucepan.

Once it just starts to simmer, remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand a few minutes, then whisk to melt the chocolate completely and make smooth. That’s it!

Then just dip the tops of your strawberry cupcakes into the ganache. 

Hold the sides of the cupcake and lower the top into the ganache. Lift it back up, twisting your wrist slightly to help excess drip off.

Then quickly flip it back over and place back on the wire rack to set.

You’ll have a beautiful, shiny chocolate coating with almost no effort.

You don’t have to save this trick for chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakes! Try it on peppermint mocha cupcakes for an extra dose of chocolate or even on birthday cupcakes in lieu of the chocolate frosting.

If you’re decorating the strawberry cupcakes with sliced strawberries, remove the stems from the fruit and cut in half. I like to cut them into little hearts.

Place the strawberry halves on top of the cupcakes while the ganache is still setting.

This fresh fruit topping works best if you are serving the cupcakes the same day. After a day or two, the liquid in the berries will start to weep out onto the ganache.

You can also leave the tops smooth and glossy, or decorate with royal icing.

Either way, they’re totally impressive and totally a way to get you out of doing the dishes for at least a few days.

Other cupcake recipes you’ll love

Looking for more cupcakes? Try these:

• Beer & Pretzel Cupcakes
• Moon Pie Cupcakes
• Hummingbird Cupcakes
• Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes