1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners and set aside. Add the butter and chopped chocolate for the batter to a heatproof bowl and melt in the microwave or over a pot with simmering water. Mix to combine until smooth. Set aside and allow to cool down a bit.

2. Add the eggs, sugar (or xylitol), and vanilla extract to a large bowl and mix at high speed until light and fluffy. Add the cooled butter chocolate mixture and stir in to combine. Mix the flour with cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and gradually add to the bowl alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until combined – do not overmix. Fill the paper liners evenly with the batter and bake for about 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Take out of the oven and let cool down completely on a wire rack.

3. For the buttercream, place a large heatproof bowl over a pot with simmering water. Add the egg whites, sugar, and salt and mix until the mix reaches a temperature of 160°F (71°C) and the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a food processor or a hand mixer, whisk the egg whites on high speed for about 5-6 minutes until you got a nice and thick meringue that has room temperature. Gradually add the butter in small pieces, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and confectioners’ sugar and mix for another 6-8 minutes until you get a fluffy and creamy buttercream.

4. For the decoration, the buttercream has to be divided into several portions and colored with food coloring. For Audrey’s teeth you need some plain uncolored buttercream, so set about 1 tbsp. aside for that. For Audrey’s tongue, you need a bit more than 1 tbsp. buttercream colored red and the same amount in black for Audrey’s throat. Color the rest of the buttercream green and about 1/3 of that even in a darker green.

5. Take a large piping bag with a star tip and spread some of the dark green buttercream on the inside of the piping bag, then fill up with the lighter green buttercream – this will give you a two-tone buttercream. The red buttercream needs to be filled into a piping bag with a small piping tip for leaves*, for the white and black buttercream, use small round piping tips. The rest of the dark green buttercream can be added to a piping bag with a small round piping tip and a second piping bag with a small piping tip for leaves* – this is for the plant vines.

6. Cut a well in the cooled cupcakes for the filling and then add the red jelly or jam. Pip a swirl on top of the cupcake with the two-tone green buttercream and cover the filling with it. Cut the strawberries in half but leave them connected where the green leaves/stem comes out. Place them on the green buttercream swirls, pipe a tongue into the cut open strawberries with the red buttercream, then pipe a small portion of black buttercream where the two parts of the strawberries are still connected to simulate the back of the throat and tiny teeth along the edges of the strawberries to create the open mouth with teeth of Audrey II. If the strawberries seem very moist you might want to pat them dry with a piece of kitchen paper so the buttercream sticks better. Use the dark green buttercream to pipe vines and leaves around the cupcake. Place the finished cupcakes in the fridge until you serve them.