Lou Lou Biscuit

Everything Sweet, Savory, and Golden Brown

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

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Rich, moist, sweet, and delicious Dark Chocolate Cupcakes! Treat yourselves, friends. Treat yourselves!

These cupcakes are unapologetic. They have A LOT of frosting, which has A LOT of butter and sugar in it.

Taste-wise? They’re Change-your-life-so-chocolatey-and-creamy.

Health-wise? Hmmm-lets-just-eat-lots-of-veggies-before-and-after-Ok?

Ok!

Now, why is there so much frosting? Well, because it’s my favorite part, it’s pretty, and what if you ran out of frosting before you piled the last cupcake sky high with chocolate buttercream? You’d be sad, and we can’t have that.

How are they dark chocolate? They look just like regular chocolate cupcakes, I know. But they’re not. They have a secret ingredient. Actually a secret amount of one ingredient. EXTRA COCOA POWDER. When the amount of cocoa powder increases, and everything else stays the same, You get DARK CHOCOLATE cupcakes. It’s an undisputed fact that there can never be too much chocolate, so we’re on the right track here.

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Because the frosting is my favorite part, I didn’t stop at piping it on top. Oh no. I cut these babies in half and piped the frosting in the middle layer too. YUM! I was in a hurry, because the light was starting to fade, which is why some of the cupcakes are topsy turvy looking. I didn’t cut super straight. Adds to the charm, right?

Taylor is sweet. He came home after work and tried one, “Oh it’s so good. Delicious!” Meanwhile he was sneakily dumping that whole beautiful top layer of frosting into the trash. He likes cake. I like frosting. We balance each other out.

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I won’t judge you if you’re like Taylor, and you just need a little bit of sweet creamy frosting on your moist, dark chocolate cupcakes. You can cut the frosting recipe in half and still have plenty to frost 9 cupcakes.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
 
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Author:
Serves: 9
Ingredients
  • FOR THE CUPCAKES:
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ¾ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder, sifted
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 shot of espresso or ¼ cup strong brewed coffee, cooled slightly
  • FOR THE FROSTING:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
  • 1½ cups confectioner's sugar
  • ⅓ cup cocoa powder, sifted
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
  • 2 tbl half & half (whatever milk or cream you have should work)
Instructions
  1. FOR THE CAKE:
  2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with 9 paper liners.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, set with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar for five minutes at medium speed.
  4. Add egg and vanilla and mix until just combined on low speed. Add espresso and combine on low speed. be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl a couple of times during mixing and right before the end to make check that your ingredients are fully combined.
  5. In a separate, medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
  6. Add the buttermilk and butter mixture to the flour mixture in 6 alternating, separate additions. So, add ⅓ of the buttermilk, mix, add ⅓ of the butter mixture, and mix. You'll do this 3 times. Mix until dough is just combined. As soon as the last trace of flour disappears, stop mixing.
  7. Fill cupcake papers ¾ of the way full with dough. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  8. Cool on cooling rack for at least 20 minutes before frosting.
  9. FOR THE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM:
  10. Add butter to bowl of stand mixer set with the whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed for about a minute, just to make sure it's truly room temperature and ready for the sugar.
  11. Combine sugar, cocoa powder and salt
  12. Reduce mixer speed to low and add confectioner's sugar mix in small amounts, waiting to add the next bit until the last bit is fully combined.
  13. Once all the sugar/cocoa powder gets incorporated, increase speed to high for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture gets light and fluffy and about doubles in size. Once the frosting has enough air whipped into it, add vanilla and half½ with the mixer on low. After the vanilla and half½ are fully incorporated, turn mixer on high just for one more minute to make sure everything is really mixed together well.
  14. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes! You can also cut the cupcakes in half and put a layer of frosting in the middle if you're as big a frosting fan as I am.
  15. Store in refrigerator.

 

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Comments

  2. I’m with the two of you. I’ve never been a fan of cake, but frosting…..Oh yeah! BTW, I love the new look of your blog. You are an amazing food photographer, chef and writer. Is there anything you can’t do?

  3. I want one with the cute little milk in a bottle next to it! Love your writing and can’t wait to bake with you again!

  4. I miss you, too. Next time you’re in town, call me! The girls miss you, too!