Strawberry Mousse and Brownie Cupcakes

I'm in desperate need of motivation to get myself back into the kitchen. Don't know what's gotten into me these days, but cooking/baking just seems like the last thing i want to do. I've been on my elongated Easter break for a while now and the only produce that came out of the oven were these Strawberry Mousse and Brownie Cupcakes. Sigh, i was actually looking forward to trying out some of my highly anticipated recipes during my break... i guess that's not happening anytime soon :( DANG IT. And to make myself sound even more lazy, these cupcakes are actually made from a combination of 2 of my past recipes: brownies + strawberry mousse XD. Lalalala~ So anyways, JLo and I only had one cupcake each this time (as a taste test), and the rest were packaged and specially delivered to JLo's classmate, Anders. We promised him a home-cooked meal about a month ago but our plans were never carried out due to my *)%($ FREAKIN' PHARMACOLOGY (*@&%*@ finals. And since my brain is still recuperating from that traumatic experience, I made the dessert first to carry out the 1st part of our promised dinner. Gahhhh... i feel bad for being so lazy... sorry, Anders! But your chili casserole will come soon :) Hopefully posting this up will motivate me to finish what I've started.

Strawberry Mousse and Brownie Cupcakes
makes 7 - 8 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
• Strawberry mousse [see recipe below]
  
  
• BROWNIES:
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (i used less)
• 1 cup sugar (i used less)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  

DIRECTIONS:

BROWNIES:

1. Stir butter, sugar, and vanilla together [picture 1].
2. Add eggs and beat well[picture 3].
3. Separately, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt together[picture 2].
4. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Stir well [picture 4, 5].
5. Fill cupcake cups with brownie batter (they should be 2/3 - 3/4 full) [picture 6].
6. Bake 30 minutes until knife comes out clean [picture 7].
7. After the cupcakes have cooled, use a knife and cut a hole into the cupcakes. Fill each hole with chopped strawberries [picture 8].
8. Spoon enough strawberry mousse to cover each cupcake hole [picture 9], refrigerate.
9. Reserve remaining mousse in a piping bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes until it has slightly solidified. Using the piping bag, decorate the cupcake in any way you'd like, be creative! Don't forget to add a berry on top ;) [picture 10].

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Strawberry Mousse
This recipe makes only a small amount of mousse that should be enough to fill and decorate the cupcakes.
INGREDIENTS:

• 100g fresh strawberries
• 1/2 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50 mL milk
• 1.5 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Blend and puree 100g of fresh strawberries. [picture 1]
2. In a saucepan, mix the sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. [picture 2]
3. Pour the strawberry puree (around 75 mL) into the egg mixture. Mix well. [picture 3]
4. In another saucepan, add the gelatin and milk and heat until gelatin has dissolved. Pour it into the strawberry mixture and continue heating until everything comes together. [picture 4]
5. Remove the mixture from the heat and place the saucepan in cold water until it reaches room temperature.
6. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Pour it into the strawberry mixture. [picture 5]
7. Fold until blended thoroughly. [picture 6]

Special Delivery:
Strawberry Mousse and Brownie Cupcakes