These chocolate cupcakes have an intense chocolate flavor and are topped with a simple whipped cream frosting.
Even though my family is not a fan of cupcakes or frosting I can’t help but make them. I have to admit I’m not a big fan of frosting, either, but I do enjoy decorating cupcakes and so recently I made some chocolate cupcakes.
I made them for Mother’s Day because I had these cute pink pearl sprinkles I’d been wanting to use. So, I looked for recipes and decided to try one I found on Food Librarian.
The original recipe had a mascarpone frosting that I ended up not using. It sounds really good, but I know my audience and decided to go with a whipped cream frosting that I know my family would enjoy. The chocolate cupcakes are pretty rich, so I thought the lighter, less sweet frosting would work well.
Recipe Tips
These cupcakes have a pretty intense chocolate flavor, which surprised me because they are made with cocoa powder. The batter also has a small amount of espresso powder which enhances the chocolate flavor, so I don’t recommend leaving it out.
You only need one bowl to make the batter and I recommend scraping down the bowl as you are mixing the ingredients to ensure everything is well mixed.
Let the cupcakes fully cool before you frost them.
Whipped Cream Frosting
I love whipped cream frosting because it’s lighter and less sweet than other kinds of frosting. All you do is whip heavy cream with granulated sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
Readers have asked how the frosting holds up and I find that it holds well – my cupcakes looked great all day and the frosting didn’t melt.
I also decorated them with the pearl sprinkles I had and I really like how they turned out. The cupcakes are a little denser than what I’m used to, but I didn’t mind because they tasted really good.
I did notice that my sprinkles started to melt after a while, so next time I will wait to add them until right before I plan to serve the cupcakes.
More Dessert Recipes
Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 3 tbsp safflower oil I used vegetable oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder optional, but it helps bring out the chocolate
For the Frosting
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar or more according to your taste preference
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. 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 ensure 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.
- To make the frosting, beat sugar and heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Put cream into piping bags to decorate cupcakes.
Notes
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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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.
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.
Beautiful. How long does the frosting hold up for? Does it “melt” or disintegrate as something like ReddiWhip would?
These look absolutely perfect for Mother’s Day! Love the touch the pink pearls add.
I love how simple these are to make too! I didnt even use a mixer, just a whisk.
Those look delicious. My kids love Chocolate Cupcakes so I’ll try them on your recipe, I’m sure they’ll love it.