strawberry puffcakes*

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! This year Landon and I decided to not buy each other a Valentine's gift because we got back from our cruise 2 days before, so that was going to be our Valentine's presents to each other. Well, I kept my end of the bargain, but at about noon these little beauties arrived at work.

Cute huh!! These are the exact flowers that we had at our wedding. Although he is in big trouble for breaking our pact, I couldn't stay mad at him for long! I LOVE YOU LANDON!!

So I promised you a delicious treat for Valentine's day and I think that it was a success. While I was on vacation one of the tasks that I gave Sarah was to pick us a fun dessert to make for Valentine's for all of the kids. She didn't let me down! These little cupcakes are so stinkin cute and they look fancy and elegant. Perfect for the holiday of LOVE!

Strawberry Puffcakes
adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 box chocolate cake mix (and eggs and oil package calls for)

Frosting:

½ cup fresh strawberries, hulled

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still slightly cold (we used salted and omitted the pinch of salt)

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Chocolate Topping (see my ganache substitution below):

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

For the Cupcakes:

Line your cupcake pan with cupcake liners and bake cupcakes according to package directions. Let cupcakes cool.

For the Frosting:

Place 1/2 cup of strawberries in a food processor or blender and process until pureed into liquid.

 

Beat butter and salt until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar slowly until combined. It will be very dry and you will seriously start to think that there is no possible way it could turn into frosting..

and then all of the sudden something miraculous happens!

Add vanilla extract, and the pureed strawberries. Mix until just blended.

Frost cooled cupcakes using the tip below.

Chill cupcakes in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (I put mine in the freezer because I think the frosting will fall off because I am paranoid, hence why kids are no where in my near future) to harden the frosting so that they are easier to dip. 

Decorating Tip: An easy way to pipe frosting without using fancy decorating tips is to fill a Ziploc bag with some of the frosting and cut off one of the corners on the bottom of the bag to about the size of a nickel. Begin piping your frosting.

For the chocolate topping:

Place chocolate chips and oil in a microwave safe boil and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted.

Substitution:  Now, I used ganache. I  made the chocolate topping that the recipe calls for, but it didn't seem nearly runny enough and plus, I just love ganache. You can find my ganache recipe here.

Let cool slightly before dipping your cupcakes. You don't want to melt the frosting right off!

Carefully dip the chilled cupcakes in the melted chocolate just once. 

At this point you can garnish with strawberry pieces if desired.

Once dipped, place the cupcakes in the refrigerator so that the chocolate can set up.

Serve chilled or pull them out of the fridge for about 15 minutes before serving :)

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!!

-alyssa*