Chocolate Cupcakes w/Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

This Mother's Day, my sweet boys spoiled me with tasty food, cards, gifts and more FOOD. Lucky me! The day before Mother's Day, Hubby and the boys took me to Break of Dawn for breakfast. SO YUMMY!!! They also took me to P.F. Chang's for dinner. That was delicious, too, except Son #2 had a mild allergic reaction to something. It was probably cross contamination from shared equipment. Luckily, it didn't get worse than the "itchy mouth and tongue" stage. Poor little guy. :(

I baked a special Mother's Day treat for my Mom and MIL. I wanted to make something chocolatey to serve with super sweet strawberries for dessert. I looked up various cupcake recipes and then I came across Lu's post for Chocolate Cupcake filled with Strawberry Buttercream. It was EXACTLY what I was looking for. The cupcakes were delicious, cakey and moist. So good! It was the perfect dessert to round out our Mother's Day celebration. :) 

Son #2 is allergic to eggs so I usually do a milk and vinegar substitute when I bake (check out Chocolate Banana Cupcakes) but I found a new recipe that listed sour cream as an ingredient. Something new and different for me so I had to give it a shot. I used a banana in lieu of eggs for this recipe because I wasn't sure if a sour cream/vinegar mixture would work. In hindsight, I should've used tofu puree instead as that would've been flavorless in the cupcake. I was looking for a chocolatey-chocolate cupcake but there was a slight hint of banana that I could taste. I was hoping the chocolate-ness would mask the banana but it didn't. The cupcakes were still delish and I'll definitely make them again...but with tofu next time!

Mmmm....chocolate and strawberries. YUM!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 1 ripe banana, mashed/pureed (try 1/4 c tofu for a flavorless substitute)- Or use 2 eggs instead.
• strawberry buttercream frosting, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with liners.
2. In stand mixer bowl, add cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
3. Mash/puree ripe banana and set aside. If you prefer eggs, skip the mashed banana and use 2 eggs.
4. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mashed banana.
5. Put butter mixture into flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. Add sour cream and mix again.
7. Use a Pampered Chef medium scoop and drop batter into cupcake liners.
8. Bake 15-20 mins or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Cook in pan 5 mins and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Make frosting while cupcakes are cooling. ;)

Source: Adapted from lululuathome.com

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This frosting was great except I over-mixed it and it turned out a little runny. Do NOT over-mix. The consistency should be creamy like ice cream, but unfortunately, mine was a little syrupy as I added too much puree. I really wanted that strawberry UMPH! and ended up with soft serve-like frosting. I was unable to pipe a decorative frosting as it wouldn't hold its shape but at least it tasted great. If you want the right frosting consistency, be sure to stick to Lu's recipe below. :) 

Strawbelicious

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Yield: frosting for 24 cupcakes or 9x13" cake

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs strawberry puree
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In stand mixer bowl, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. 
2. Reduce speed to low and slowly add powdered sugar. Mix well.
3. Add vanilla and strawberry puree and mix until just blended. 
4. Frost cake or cupcakes and ENJOY!

Source: Adapted from lululuathome.com