Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Truffle Frosting

5 from 8 votes

Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes with Creamy Chocolate Truffle Frosting

Chocolate Cupcakes often disappoint - but, I've tried dozens of chocolate cake recipes over the years, and I promise you that these are as far from disappointing as you can get! These one-bowl cupcakes are rich and moist - and stay that way for 4 to 5 days. Top them in a luscious Chocolate Fudge Frosting that tastes as decadent as a chocolate truffle - without being too sweet!

Prep Time1

Cook Time14

Total Time1 14

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Dessert

Keyword: Chocolate Cupcakes, Cupcake Recipes

Servings: cupcakes

Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup hot water 120 grams
1/3 cup natural cocoa powder 37 grams
1 tsp espresso powder
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed out 130 grams
1/2 cup granulated sugar 105 grams
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed 110 grams
1 tsp baking soda 5 grams
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature 120 grams
1/4 cup vegetable oil 54 grams
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Frosting

5 ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate Use a baking bar like Ghirardelli or Baker's, rather than chocolate chips. See note below.
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup corn sy rup
1/2 cup + 1 additional tablespoon of salted butter, softened at room temperature 125 grams
1 and 3/4 cups powdered sugar 204 grams
2/3 cup cocoa powder 60 grams
2 tsp vanilla extract 8 grams
pinch of salt

Optional

chocolate jimmies or sprinkles

Instructions

Prep: Preheat your oven to 350℉. Place cupcake liners in your muffin/cupcake pan.
Bloom the Cocoa Powder: Microwave the water in a large microwave safe glass measuring cup (you'll want room to add in the buttermilk and oil later, if possible) until it's very hot. Whisk in the cocoa powder and espresso powder until all the dry bits are completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
1/2 cup hot water, 1/3 cup natural cocoa powder, 1 tsp espresso powder
Make the Cupcake Batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and sugars, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar as best you can. Then, whisk in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Check that the water & cocoa mixture is just lukewarm (not hot!), and if it is, whisk in the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. (If your measuring cup wasn't large enough for this, just add all the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry and whisk - but do lightly beat the eggs first, as in the next line.)
In one of the measuring cups you just dirtied that's now empty, add the eggs and lightly beat with a fork. Pour the cocoa liquid mixture and the lightly beaten eggs over the dry ingredients. Whisk gently to combine, making sure to get any dry bits hiding in the bottom of the bowl. (I like to lift up the bowl and look through the clear glass bottom and sides to check for this, haha!).
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled or weighed out , 1/2 cup granulated sugar , 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature , 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 large egg, at room temperature , 1 tsp vanilla extract
Bake: Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full, or go by weight - you'll want 42 to 45 grams of batter per cupcake - more than this, and they can overflow a bit or deflate. Bake cupcakes for 14-18 minutes. The tops will be set and should be slightly domed. They'll lightly spring back when gently poked, and a toothpick inserted into the middle will come out with moist crumbs - not wet batter.
Once the cupcake pan is out of the oven, I like to use a butter knife to pop the hot cupcakes out of the cavities and place them on a wire rack to cool completely. I don't want them to continue baking in the hot pan. (You can wait a few minutes to do this so they aren't as hot.)
Make the Chocolate Frosting: Make the Chocolate Fudge Frosting according to my recipe (linked over the words "chocolate fudge frosting").
5 ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup corn sy rup, 1/2 cup + 1 additional tablespoon of salted butter, softened at room temperature, 1 and 3/4 cups powdered sugar, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 2 tsp vanilla extract, pinch of salt
Frost the Cupcakes: Use a piping bag and piping tip, or an offset spatula or butter knife to frost your cooled cupcakes. I used a Wilton 1M tip here. Add chocolate sprinkles if desired!
Serve + Store: Enjoy immediately! Store frosted cupcakes in an airtight container in the fridge. These stay moist for 4-5 days! They freeze beautifully with frosting, too.

Notes

Yield: Annoyingly, my cupcake recipes always seem to yield something like 17 or 19 cupcakes instead of a nice round number. But, think of it this way - you would probably expect a recipe to make 16 cupcakes, not 17? So, you get to eat the 17th cupcake! Just think of it as the baker's tax, hehe.

Nutrition