Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Moist, fluffy, and oh ya – SO CHOCOLATEY, these Chocolate Cupcakes will soon become your holy-grail recipe! These Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes are an absolute breeze to make, requiring no special equipment or processes – yup, that’s right, all you need is a few bowls and a whisk! These chocolate cupcakes get their intense chocolate flavor from the use of dutch-processed cocoa powder, which is bloomed to further intensify that chocolate flavor, and coffee! Made with sour cream to keep them moist and fluffy, these fudgy chocolate cupcakes are, of course, finished with a sky-high helping of rich, fluffy chocolate buttercream!
How to make the Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
1. Combine wet ingredients: Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla, sour cream, and oil, to a large mixing bowl, then beat together with a whisk until the mixture is smooth and well-combined.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Bloom the cocoa: Add the sifted cocoa powder to the warm coffee. Mix until smooth, and then add to the wet mixture from above.
4. Add the dry & wet together: Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and whisk together until smooth. Try not to overmix though!
5. Add to pan & bake: Pour the Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes batter into a prepared cupcake pan, then place into the oven to bake! When done, allow the Chocolate Cupcakes to cool completely before topping with frosting!
Why do you have to ‘bloom’ cocoa?
You’ll notice in the recipe instructions that you have to add the cocoa powder to hot coffee before adding it to the batter. This is known as ‘blooming’ that cocoa. The reasoning behind this process is that the hot liquid dissolves flavor particles within the cocoa powder, making the final product taste more chocolatey! While we’re at it, you may also be wondering why these Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes as well as many other chocolate cake or cupcake recipes, are made with coffee. Again, the reasoning for this is because the coffee actually intensifies that chocolate flavor! Neat, huh?!
What is Dutch Processed Cocoa?
This Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes recipe calls for Dutch processed cocoa as the cocoa powder. ‘What the heck is Dutch processed cocoa powder’, you ask? Dutch processed cocoa is created by alkalizing regular cocoa powder to bring it up to a pH of 7. This process sort of strips the acidic properties out of the cocoa powder, leaving it with a much more mild, less astringent taste. By removing the astringency, the flavor of chocolate is able to shine through more, creating the illusion that it tastes more chocolatey! Definitely what we want for a chocolate cake recipe!
Be warned, however, that regular cocoa powder and dutch-processed cocoa powder cannot always be used interchangeably. Recipes that include baking soda need an acid to activate the baking soda to induce rising. In many recipes this ingredient is cocoa powder (pH=5.3). Therefore, using Dutch processed cocoa powder, which has a neutral pH, wouldn’t activate the baking soda, and another acidic ingredient would be required. For example, in this Chocolate Cupcakes recipe, that other acidic ingredient is sour cream (pH=4.5).
Get the Recipe: Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
- 2 ½ cups (300g) All Purpose Flour,, † measured correctly
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 3/4 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder, (regular cocoa can be used too)
- 3/4 cup Hot Freshly Brewed Coffee
Chocolate Buttercream
- 2 cup Unsalted Butter,, at room temperature
- 7 cups Confectioners Sugar,, sifted
- 1 cup Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder,, sifted
- Pinch of Salt
- 6 tbsp Heavy Cream
- 2 tbsp Corn Syrup
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
Quick & Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare 2 cupcake pans (24 total cupcakes) with cupcake liners. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, add eggs, sugar, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Whisk together until smooth and well combined.
- In a small mixing bowl or 2-cup liquid measuring cup, add the hot coffee and cocoa powder. Whisk together until well-combined and smooth. Allow to sit for 2 minutes, then add the cocoa mixture into the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients (eggs, sour cream, etc.), then mix until smooth.
- Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients, and mix until smooth. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cupcake pans, filling 2/3 full, and bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream
- Add butter to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl. Beat on high until butter is doubled in volume, and looks light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Turn the stand mixer or hand mixer to low and slowly add the confectioners sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Beat on medium until completely incorporated and smooth.
- Add in the heavy cream, corn syrup, and vanilla. Beat until well-combined and fully incorporated, then add to a piping bag to pipe onto cupcakes.
Notes
Source: Recipe adapted from Ricardo
