Super moist and extra chocolatey, these chocolate fudge cupcakes are a chocolate lovers dream! The cupcakes are piped with a rich chocolate ganache, coated with crushed Oreo cookies and filled with a strawberry dipped "carrot." It's the perfect dessert for Easter or spring.
Preheat oven to 325° and line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, and oil.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Whisk until smooth and lump free.
Slowly pour in boiling water and stir just until combined.
Use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter into the cupcake liners. Fill ⅔ full. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean.
Let the cupcakes cool inside the pan for 10 minutes. Next, remove cupcakes onto a cooling rack.
For the ganache, add chocolate chips to a small bowl. Heat heavy cream in saucepan until it begins to scald. Pour hot cream over chocolate. Let stand without stirring for 2 minutes. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Place bowl inside the refrigerator to chill. Stir the chocolate every 10 minutes until the consistency is like peanut butter. This will take around 30-40 minutes.
To make the "dirt", place the Oreos inside a food processor and pulse the cookies until they are ground. You can also place the cookies inside a Ziplock freezer bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.
In a small bowl, melt coconut oil inside the microwave. Add orange candy melts and heat inside the microwave at 50% power for 1 minute. Then, microwave in 30 second increments until melted and completely smooth.
Then take each strawberry by the stem and dip into the candy melts. Remove excess and place onto parchment paper to harden. Fill a piping bag or plastic ziploc bag with the remaining melted chocolate and drizzle over strawberries.
Assembly and Decorate
Simply cut the center of your cupcake out by inserting your knife at a 45 degree angle. Make sure not to go all the way down to the bottom of the cupcakes.
Remove the centers of each cupcake. At this point, you can either eat them or crumble them onto your platter to make it look like dirt.
Fill your piping bag with thickened ganache. Pipe a swirl of ganache along the outer edge of the cupcakes. Then, roll each cupcake inside the crushed Oreo cookie "dirt."
Once the dipped strawberries have hardened, place one into the center of each cupcake. Place the cupcakes onto a serving platter or wooden board and serve at room temperature.