Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes just made Valentine’s Day all the more lovely. Piled high with pink frosting, you’ll have the sweetest Valentine’s Day!
When I was in junior high, I was obsessed with having a secret admirer on Valentine’s Day. Every year, I’d eye the balloons and candy that were being delivered to the classrooms, wondering if one of them was for me from a secret love.
So, so dramatic. I think I might have been watching too much Saved By the Bell. Or maybe the Sweet Valley High twins were to blame.
Regardless, the secret admirer thing never panned out. Are they really even a thing? In this day and age, I think that anonymous notes and grand gestures with no claim constitutes as stalking.
For the love, we are advised to barely even let our kids eat Halloween candy anymore, let alone chocolates from an anonymous admirer. It’s honestly a good thing I am here to try my kid’s Halloween candy and Valentine’s chocolates.
Just doing my job, you know?
I am still not the biggest fan of Valentine’s day. My husband and I never do a whole lot in regards to gifts – it just feels kind of pointless.
I love new things as much as the next person, but do shoes or a new iPod really say anything meaningful? Wait — don’t answer that.
I usually buy chocolates for my husband and the kiddos and plan a nice candlelit dinner for the whole family. Going out to eat on Valentine’s Day is just silly – a two hour long wait for the Olive Garden? I can think of five hundred things I’d rather do.
Especially when it’s just as easy to make Zuppa Toscana at home.
We all enjoy the nice dinner together, and I hope that I’m showing my kids that Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about new iPods or who sent who what, but about sweet gestures and time spent with people you love.
And cupcakes.
These cupcakes are the perfect ending to any Valentines Day dinner. They are festive, delicious, and family friendly. I think you’re going to love them! I mean, who wouldn’t love the combination of chocolate and strawberries in one gorgeous little cake? Aliens, that’s who.
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Stuck in a rut or looking for fun new recipes to try?
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Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese Softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 box Devil’s Food Cake Mix
- 1 small package Instant Chocolate Fudge Pudding Mix A 3.9 ounce box
- 1 cup Milk
- 2/3 cup Vegetable Oil
- 3 large Egg
- 12 tablespoons Salted Butter Softened
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese Softened
- 1/3 cup Sliced Frozen Strawberries in Sugar Thawed and pureed
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin tins with liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with a hand mixer until smooth. Add granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until smooth and combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, vegetable oil, and eggs. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and beat for two more minutes.
- Fill muffin tins half-full with batter.
- Top each with a spoonful of cheesecake filling – each tin should be about 2/3 full when complete.
- Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes or until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched in the center. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the strawberry puree and beat on medium low until mixed.
- Add powdered sugar and beat on low until just barely mixed in. Increase mixer speed to high and beat for one minute.
- If frosting is too thin, add another 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to get desired consistency.
- Frost cooled cupcakes and serve.