Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

These chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting are perfect for Valentine’s Day! Soft chocolate cupcakes topped with creamy and sweet fresh strawberry buttercream!

Chocolate and strawberries are just two things you’re sure to see a lot of around Valentine’s Day and this recipe is a perfect combination for them both to come together in one tasty personal-sized treat. You’re going to love these chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting!

The recipe is super easy to follow along with and it starts with a chocolate cupcake recipe made with boxed mix and turns into a decadent dessert with a fresh strawberry frosting. These cupcakes are perfect for any generation and always a huge hit, especially around this romantic holiday.

Chocolate Cupcakes With Strawberry Frosting Recipe

Made with a doctored chocolate cake mix the cake itself is fluffy and moist while the strawberry buttercream uses all of 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. I personally find the rich chocolate cupcakes balance the sweet strawberry frosting nicely. Chocolate and strawberries are such natural pairs.

Ingredients you’ll need for Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting:

For the cupcakes, you will need:

• Devil’s Food Cake Mix
• Instant chocolate pudding mix
• Sour cream
• Vegetable oil
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Strawberry extract
• Warm water

For the buttercream, you will need:

• Butter
• Shortening
• Powdered sugar
• Salt
• Vanilla extract
• Finely chopped strawberries
• Water

For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.

How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla, and water.
3. Beat on low speed with an electric mixer until well blended.
4. Turn the mixer onto medium speed and continue to beat for another 2 minutes.
5. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop out the batter and fill each muffin cup about 2/3rds of the way full.
6. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes and allow to cool completely before frosting.
7. For the buttercream, cream together the shortening and butter until very smooth in the bowl of a stand mixer.
8. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter will be stiff.
9. Add in salt and vanilla.
10. Finally, add in the strawberries and water, one tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency has been reached.
11. Spread or pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. If piping the frosting, make sure that the hole is big enough to not be clogged by strawberries.
12. Enjoy!

Recipe Tips

• 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.
• You could use frozen berries that have been thawed in place of fresh if you prefer.
• I added a touch of strawberry extract to my cake batter to tie in the flavor. You could add the extract to your frosting if you needed an extra strawberry punch.

FAQs

How long are chocolate frosted cupcakes good for?

These cupcakes can be kept stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days. I recommend eating them sooner rather than later though as these cupcakes will taste best on the same day that they are made. Extended time in the fridge can cause the cupcakes to dry out.

How to make these cupcakes in advance

If wanting to make them in advance you’ll need to keep the bottoms and tops separated. Unfrosted cupcakes are good for up to a week at room temperature in an airtight container so you can make them up to a few days in advance if desired and then frost right before serving. The frosting can also last up to a few days in the fridge but I wouldn’t make it sooner than a day to two before it’s needed because the fresh strawberries can release moisture and cause the buttercream texture to change.

Can I freeze strawberry buttercream?

Yes, you can freeze this buttercream in an airtight container for up to 2 months. This should give you plenty of time to find more ways to use it up. Just thaw the frosting in the fridge for several hours before using it.

For more tasty sweets check out these cupcake recipes:

• Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mocha Cupcakes
• Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Cupcakes
• Apple Pie Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Buttercream
• Lemon Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream
• Candy Land Cupcakes

Continue to Content

Yield: 2 dozen

Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Print

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

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes

Total Time 48 minutes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

• 1 box Devils 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

Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake tin with liners, set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs, vanilla, extracts and water.
3. Beat on low until well blended. Turn mixer on medium and continue to beat for two minutes.
4. Using a large cookie scoop, scoop batter into each cupcake well until about 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

1. For the buttercream, in a stand mixer, cream together shortening and butter until very smooth.
2. Slowly add in powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Batter will be stiff.
3. Add in salt and vanilla.
4. Finally add in strawberries and water one tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired constancy for spreading or piping frosting. You may find you'll need more or less liquid.
5. 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.
6. Pipe on a generous amount of frosting.

Nutrition Information

Yield

24

Serving Size

1 cupcake
Amount Per Serving Calories 1097Total Fat 29gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 16gCholesterol 62mgSodium 353mgCarbohydrates 212gFiber 1gSugar 199gProtein 2g

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