Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line the wells of a 12 count cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar, ½ cup (100g) firmly packed light brown sugar, 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour, 6 Tablespoons (36g) Dutch processed cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
To the dry ingredients, add the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and coffee and whisk until everything is completely combined.
2 large eggs, ¼ cup (48mL) oil1, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 5 ounces (150mL) hot coffee2
Spoon batter evenly into the cupcake liners filling ½ to ⅔ of the way full (I like to use an ice cream scoop with a trigger-- one scant scoop full). Bake for 13-14 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

Heat a small pot of water over medium heat until it steams. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg whites and granulated sugar. Place bowl over steaming pot, to create a double boiler.
3 large egg whites, ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
Whisk the egg whites and sugar vigorously until sugar melts completely and egg whites become white and frothy, about 1 and ½ to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and place bowl back onto stand mixer.
Fit stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk egg white/sugar mixture on high speed until medium peaks form (it will resemble the texture of shaving cream).
Turn the mixer down to low, then add the butter one Tablespoon at a time, waiting for the butter to completely incorporate before adding more, until you have used all of the butter. If at any time your mixture starts to look curdled or chunky, just keep mixing and it will correct itself.
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter
Once all of the butter has been incorporated, increase the mixer speed to high and beat until medium to medium-stiff peaks form. Turn off the mixer, add the cooled melted chocolate, vanilla, and salt, and beat again until stiff peaks form. If you are having trouble achieving peaks, place the bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge for about 10 minutes and then try again. Meringue (or even a kitchen) that is too warm can prevent the meringue from peaking properly.
3 ounces (86g) semi-sweet chocolate, ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
Fill a piping bag (or a large zip top bag with the corner snipped off) with frosting and decorate your cupcakes. If you want a fancier pipe, use a Wilton 1M tip. Cupcakes stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator up to 5 days. Undecorated cupcakes may be frozen, up to 2 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and allow to come to room temperature before decorating.

Ingredients

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

CHOCOLATE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

Instructions

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

CHOCOLATE SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

Notes

Nutrition Disclosure