This is chocolate going where no chocolate has gone before. Total cocoa intensity. With each bite of these babies your mind will buzz a little. A buzz of joy, that only real chocolate lovers will understand. If you join this cake with a good cup of java the world will be yours to conquer. Or at least it will feel like it.
SUPER-MOIST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
(slightly modified from Sally’s Baking Addiction)
3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (42g) natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
1/3 cup (80ml) canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla paste
1/2 cup (120ml) milk soured with a squirt of lemon juice (or commercial buttermilk)
frosting (recipe follows)
sprinkles to decorate (optional)
Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake liners. If you have a second pan, line two more muffin tins, the recipe will likely make 14 cupcakes.
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla paste until completely smooth. Pour half of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Then half of the home-made buttermilk. Gently whisk for a few seconds. Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients and buttermilk. Stir until just combined; do not overmix.
Spoon the batter into the liners. Fill only halfway. Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
BLACKOUT CHOCOLATE FROSTING
(from Kara’s Couture Cakes)
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup black cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
a little less than 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
black gel food color (I used Chefmaster)
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Ice the cupcakes once they are completely cold. Have fun with sprinkles!
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ENJOY!
to print the recipes, click here
Comments: Sally’s Baking Addiction is a fantastic site for bakers. I’ve mentioned before that one of my nieces in Brazil is a great cake baker, to the extent that for a while she was doing it professionally. She baked super fancy and decorated cakes for birthday celebrations, in a special-order kind of deal. One day we were talking about blogs and cookbooks, and she mentioned Sally’s blog (not mine, mind you) as one of her favorite sources exactly for the reason that her recipes are so reliable. It was fun to learn that we subscribed and faithfully the same site for years without knowing we both did. But I digress. Sally’s chocolate cupcakes deliver exactly what she promises: moist, decadent, and perfectly shaped little concoctions. The most important instruction in her recipe is to fill the muffin tins only halfway to the top. Not a teaspoon more. It will seem inadequate, but resist the temptation to add more batter. They will bake perfectly, without a super inflated dome that always sinks in unflattering ways as the cake cools.
The frosting. Normally, I am not wild about American buttercream, but this is not your regular kind. For starters, the black cocoa powder is so intense, that it can stand up to the extra sugar. Also, the addition of heavy cream is a game changer. If you are counting calories or saturated fat, this is not your best option for dessert. But if your life-style allows some room for indulging, this might very well be your best option for dessert. The cake with the dark cocoa icing is a match that will rock that world you are about to conquer.
I hope this photo conveys how deliciously moist this cupcake turns out. You can pile the icing higher if you dare, but I think a bit of moderation is in order. It is very rich and satisfying. As to decoration, I pretty much opened my box of sprinkles and had a blast with them. The dark background is friendly to so many color combinations! Pure white (those tiny marshmallows looked adorable on the cake), red, pink, coral, bright mixed colors, or you can use a color scheme geared to a particular occasion. Come to think of it, St Patrick’s Day could showcase some of these with green and white sprinkles…
I close this post with a daring statement. Ready? Here we go: these are the best chocolate cupcakes I’ve ever had. There. I said it. You must bake a batch…
ONE YEAR AGO: Sunflower Seed Kamut Sourdough
TWO YEARS AGO: The Joys of Grating Squash
THREE YEARS AGO: Auberge Pecan-Walnut Bread
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FIVE YEARS AGO: Lasserre, a French Classic
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SIX YEARS AGO: Sourdough Bread with Walnuts and Dates
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SEVEN YEARS AGO: Braised Brisket with Bourbon-Apricot Glaze
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EIGHT YEARS AGO: The Real Vodka Sauce
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NINE YEARS AGO: Pork Tenderloin and Blue Cheese
Any chance of posting a tray of those to me? Please, please, please.
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If I could, I would… 😉 One day we’ll have teleporters. I am afraid it won’t be during my lifetime, though…
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You had me at Extreme Chocolate!!!
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It is really REALLY intense – not for those over the fence about cocoa… 😉 Truly a spectacular cupcake!
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Definitely trying!! Maybe a nice treat for Easter!!! 😁
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yeah!!!! you can sprinkle it accordingly…
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Thank you 😘
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You really took such a nice photo to capture the deep dark delicious look of the chocolate frosting! I have such trouble taking photos of chocolate desserts. I took so many of my Oreos it’s not even funny.
I’m completely sold on making these, and just happen to have some black cocoa in my vast collection of ingredients.
P.S. Your sprinkle collection is calling my name!
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brown food… the nightmare of food bloggers, isn’t it? I bet you have a box of Sprinkles for Emergencies just like I do (in fact I think I will feature mine in the next In My Kitchen, just for fun)
and the worse is that I keep finding more sprinkles I cannot live without. Why? oh why?
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Gorgeous cupcakes!
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thank you! glad you enjoyed the post… I have a hard time taking pictures of dark chocolate stuff… somehow these turned out ok 😉
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These look delicious! I love Sally’s Baking Addiction – her recipes are consistently amazing!
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it’s nice to have a blog you can fully trust, particularly in baking, I hate failures. So many ingredients and effort…
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Amazing colour!
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indeed…. such intense dark color! pretty amazing…
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