Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes

I saw these Straw-Berried Treasure Cupcakes on I Heart Cuppycakes blog (oh how I love her blog. She is a genius), and I have a friends birthday coming up. I love to make fun cupcakes for people's birthday and these seemed like so much fun, and the strawberries would be a great surprise when you bite into the cupcakes.

However, I didn't need 18 cupcakes as I was also planning on doing some Canada day baking later this week, and I really just needed a few for my friends birthday, so I cut down the recipe a bit. I ended up with 9 cupcakes which was a great amount.

Chocolate Cupcake:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup, 2 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/8 tsp baking powder (this is an estimate when measuring)
3/8 tsp salt
1 lg egg
1 1/2 tbsp safflower oil ( you can use any vegetable oil)
1/4 cup, 2 tbsp butter milk (I used skim + a little lemon juice)
1/4 cup, 2 tbsp warm water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
9 strawberries, washed and tops removed

Frosting:
1 7oz jar marshmallow creme
1 8oz block cream cheese, softened

Garnish:
Brown sugar (optional, I didn't put it on all cupcakes and they were still delicious)

How To:
Cupcakes:
1. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add the wet ingredients and mix with a mixer on low until all ingredients are incorporated.
3. Pour into cups (2/3 to 3/4 full), and bake for 17 - 20 min (I needed 19 minutes) at 350F.
4. Allow to cool completely.

Frosting:
Combine marshmallow creme and cream cheese in bowl of mixer and mix with flat beater until smooth.

Assembly:
1. Remove a cone from the cupcake about the size of the strawberry ( I placed the strawberry on top and went quickly around it with a knife and then removed the cone. This way the strawberries fit snug in the whole I made for them).
2. Place strawberry in the whole of the cupcake.

3. Top with frosting ( I squirted a little frosting into the hollow strawberry as well).


Reviews:
These were delicious. I love this chocolate cupcake recipe and it is going to be a recipe I go back to again and again. It is easy and makes a delicious dark chocolate cake. The topping was not to sweet and worked really well, the strawberries are a fun surprise when you bite into the cupcake.

Owen loved these, he decided he wanted the extras to himself, and ate 2 in the first hour after I had made them. He loved the strawberry in the middle, and loved that the whole thing wasn't too sweet. I can't remember the last time he ate so many cupcakes so quickly.