Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes

My first graders have a jar of dinosaurs as part of our classroom incentive system.  Every time the whole class does something good, like cleaning up by the end of the clean-up song (it's not a special song, usually just something by Michael Jackson), we put in 10 or 20 dinosaur counters.  When we fill up the jar, we have a big celebration.  The jar holds almost 400 dinosaurs, so it's a really big deal, and today is the day!  Just in time for spring break.  

I like to bring in cupcakes.  Last time, one of my students suggested that we have "Cupcake Wars"--everyone brings in cupcakes, we try them all, and then decide which ones are the best.  Anyway, I said yes because I thought I would be the only one to bring in cupcakes.  Boy, was I wrong!  The next day six kids brought in cupcakes (only one kid brought homemade ones, so I still pretty much won the cupcake war).  There were so many cupcakes that we had to save some for the next day.

This time, I wanted to make something really springy, so I decided to make strawberry cupcakes.  I wanted to go all-out and decorate them with chocolate-covered strawberries.  For the cake itself, I used a version of the quick chocolate cake recipe I used for the chocolate cupcakes I made recently.  But, instead of the water or coffee, I used half water and half strawberry purée.  So, you would need half a cup of strawberry purée for a single recipe of cupcakes.  This recipe would also be delicious with just plain chocolate cake, though.  I omitted the ganache filling, but you can use it if you want.  I frosted them with a recipe based on Martha Stewart's Strawberry Meringue Buttercream.  It was the best part of the whole thing and tasted just like strawberry ice cream in frosted form.  The strawberry purée listed below is used in both the cupcakes and the frosting.

Strawberry Purée (makes one cup, enough for 12 cupcakes and frosting):

1 cup fresh or defrosted frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Moscato (optional)

If you have time, mix the berries, sugar, and wine and let them sit for a while.  Then, blend all ingredients in a food processor.

Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup strawberry purée
• 
  

Put the egg whites and sugar in a very clean heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler.  Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and heat, whisking constantly, until it reaches 150 degrees and is foamy and thickened.  Remove from the heat and beat on high speed until the mixture is cooled to room temperature and holds stiff peaks.

Add the butter a tablespoon at a time and beat until smooth.  Add the vanilla, and fold in the strawberry purée.

To decorate the cupcakes, I cut small strawberries in half through the stem and dipped those.  I didn't want a huge chocolate-covered berry to stick out too far or overwhelm the frosting.  No chocolate sticks on the cut side of the strawberries, but that's okay because that's the bottom anyway.  You might need a toothpick for dipping strawberry halves, because it can be hard to grab onto them without breaking off the green leaves.  Let the strawberries set on a sheet of parchment paper, and transfer them to frosted cupcakes after the chocolate has hardened.

You barely need a recipe for chocolate-covered strawberries, but I'm sharing this anyway in case you're curious about what I did.  They are delicious plain or on top of any sort of cupcake!

Ingredients:

6 ounces semisweet chocolate (or any kind of chocolate you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound fresh strawberries, at room temperature

Place first three ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and heat using 20-second intervals, stirring between each one, until melted and smooth.  Alternately, you can use your double boiler.

Make sure your berries are washed and totally dry (any moisture on the berries will keep the chocolate from sticking).  Cut in half if desired.  Dip each berry in the chocolate, turning to coat, and then place the berry on parchment or wax paper or in a cupcake cup.  Once all strawberries have been dipped, you can chill them for an hour or so, but don't store them in the refrigerator because the chocolate might get chalky.

What is your favorite way to decorate cupcakes?  What spring cupcakes are you craving right now?
I'm thinking about these raspberry vanilla cupcakes for next time.