Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Mascarpone-Cheese Filling and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

  

I recently took a cooking class called "The Art of Cupcakes," by Chef Wynton Mann (you can check out his site at www.wyntonsworld.com), and it was so much fun!  We made five different types of incredibly delicious cupcakes: these, pumpkin cupcakes with maple and ginger buttercream frosting, banana nut cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream frosting, chocolate cupcakes with strawberry mascarpone cream cheese-filling and chocolate cream cheese frosting, honey pear cupcakes with white chocolate and pistachio buttercream frosting, and vanilla coffee cupcakes with tiramisu filling and coffee buttercream frosting.  I know you're probably drooling right now just reading over that. Imagine actually biting into them.  They were all sooo good...not one of them was even close to forgettable.  And none of the recipes are available online, so I guess you'll just have to make them all from my blog(:


Yield: 24 cupcakes


Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


For the Filling:
1 - 8oz container mascarpone cheese, chilled
1/2 cup frozen strawberries, thawed, drained
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice


For the Frosting:
2 oz. butter, at room temperature
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla


Directions:

For the Cupcakes:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside.

3.  In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

4. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

5. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about one-third full.  Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20-25 minutes.

6. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

For the Filling:

In a food processor combine the mascarpone cheese, strawberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice.  Process the mixture until smooth.  Transfer the strawberry mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a small tip.

For the Frosting:

Cream butter and cream cheese; gradually add part of the sugar, alternating with chocolate, then milk, until well blended and spreading consistency is reached. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.