Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes
Description
I love making these cupcakes, no matter the occasion. But especially for Easter, these cupcakes make for simple yet whimsical desserts, adored by children and adults alike. These cakes are fudgy, moist, and full of chocolatey flavor.
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
Chocolate buttercream
Method
Chocolate cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Place the cupcake liners in a muffin tray and coat the cupcake liners with baking spray or butter.
- Add the boiling water and cocoa powder to a bowl and whisk till the mixture looks smooth. Set aside to cool to warm/room temperature.
- Cream the butter, vanilla extract, and sugar in a stand mixer or blender. Mix for approximately 2 minutes. The mixture will start looking creamy and well incorporated.
- Gradually add the eggs and buttermilk, and mix till the ingredients look well incorporated.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, and mix well.
- Starting on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed for 1-2 minutes.
- Finally, slowly pour the chocolate mixture into the batter while mixing at low speed.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on medium speed for 30-40 seconds more.
- Using a spoon, place the batter in the prepared cupcake liner, ensuring to fill only 2/3rd of the liner. Next, smooth the surface of the batter with a spoon.
- Place the muffin tray in the oven, and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. The cupcakes will be springy in the centers.
- Take the cupcakes out of the oven, and let them cool on the wire rack for 15-20 minutes. Then remove them from the muffin tray and cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate buttercream
- Add the milk chocolate to a bowl and melt the chocolate. I usually melt the chocolate in the microwave in 15-second increments, but you can use a double boiler too.
- Once the chocolate has melted, add the cocoa powder to the melted chocolate, and mix till the cocoa powder is mixed well into the melted chocolate.
- Cream the butter in a large bowl using a handheld electric beater or a stand mixer until it is very soft.
- Sift in the icing sugar and continue mixing. Make sure to sift the icing sugar in; otherwise, the buttercream frosting may taste gritty.
- Add the chocolate mixture and continue mixing until fully incorporated. Once the sugar and butter are well mixed, the frosting will look smooth, taste creamy, and not gritty.
- You can spread this on the cake or pipe it, depending on how artistic you feel. 😊
Cupcake decoration
- Pipe the buttercream on the cupcake in a rosette, or spread it with a spatula.
- Decorate with sprinkles, fresh fruit, or chocolate. For example, I used chocolate eggs in this recipe to decorate the cupcakes here.
chocolate cupcakes, fudgy chocolate cupcakes
