Chocolate Cupcakes
I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. For Mother's Day, I decided to make some cupcakes. It was a perfect opportunity to use these pretty pink pearl sprinkles that I purchased from Do It With Icing. For the longest time, I wasn't sure what cupcakes I was going to make.
Then late last week, Food Librarian posted a recipe for chocolate espresso cupcakes with mascarpone whipped cream frosting. They sounded absolutely wonderful. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy mascarpone cheese during my shopping. So I'll need to make these again with mascarpone frosting because I can imagine how well they go with these cupcakes.
Anyway, I chose to use a simple whipped cream frosting based on the audience that would be eating these cupcakes. The chocolate cakes were pretty rich and sweet so I wanted to balance them with something lighter.
I enjoyed these cupcakes. Despite only using cocoa powder, the chocolate flavor is pretty intense. The texture of these are a bit dense. They could easily be chocolate muffins. I like chocolate muffins, so I didn't mind. I love how the pearl sprinkles looked on the cakes. After a few hours though, these sprinkles start to melt a bit, so I recommend eating them soon after frosting.
Chocolate Cupcakes (recipe from Martha Stewart adapted by Food Librarian)
Yields: approximately 18 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons safflower oil (I used vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder (optional, but it helps bring out the chocolate)
Directions
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper
liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking
soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water (add espresso powder to water if using),
buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed. - Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating
pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
Whipped Cream Frosting
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar (or more according to your taste preference)
Directions
1. Beat sugar and heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Put cream into piping bags to decorate cupcakes.
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Jill @ All Things Chocolate — May 12, 2010 @ 3:25 am
Those look delicious. My kids love Chocolate Cupcakes so I’ll try them on your recipe, I’m sure they’ll love it.
Kirbie — May 12, 2010 @ 10:06 am
I love how simple these are to make too! I didnt even use a mixer, just a whisk.
thecoffeesnob — May 15, 2010 @ 11:00 pm
These look absolutely perfect for Mother’s Day! Love the touch the pink pearls add.
Lisa @Lisa is Hungry — May 18, 2010 @ 4:59 am
Beautiful. How long does the frosting hold up for? Does it “melt” or disintegrate as something like ReddiWhip would?
Kirbie — May 19, 2010 @ 11:38 am
The frosting holds up quite well actually. I’ve found that whipping fresh heavy cream holds up a lot better than the store bought stuff. My cupcakes lasted all day without melting.
Kirbie — May 19, 2010 @ 11:39 am
Thanks, I bought the pearls a while back but I didn’t know what to do with them. Then Mother’s Day came along and I thought they’d be perfect for Mother’s Day.
Whippedcream frosting | EquestrianOptions — March 5, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
[...] Chocolate Cupcakes | Kirbie's Cravings [...]