Chocolate Drunken Strawberry Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream

1. For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar till creamy. Then add one egg. Beat till combined.

2. Next mix in your dry ingredients from the medium bowl. Mix well. Then add the creme fraiche. Lastly add the Guinness. Blend till smooth. Pour batter evenly into a 12-count cupcake pan that you’ve lined with paper cupcake cups.

3. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after poking it in the center of the cupcakes. Remove from oven and let cool.

5. While the cupcakes are cooling prepare the macerated strawberry filling by chopping up strawberries. Add strawberries, sugar and Guinness into a saucepan and reduce them by heating over medium heat with Guinness beer. The juices will thicken creating drunken macerated strawberries that will fill the cupcakes.

4. Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, cut out the center with a butter knife, reserving the cake that you cut out. Don’t go all the way to the bottom of the cupcake though. Fill center with a spoonful of the strawberries in Guinness mixture. You can then put the center that you cut out back on top of the strawberries. Push down with a spoon to create an even frosting surface.

5. For the buttercream, begin by melting the white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave. Begin with 30 seconds, stir chips and if not completely melted, microwave for another 10 seconds and stir and repeat if not completely melted.

6. Cream butter in a bowl with a mixer till it’s nice and smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Once that is completely mixed in, add your melted white chocolate. Blend well.

7. Place buttercream frosting in a piping bag with a star tip and pipe onto cupcakes. Decorate with sliced strawberries.