Best Moist Chocolate Cupcakes & Naked Buttercream
I am a wally brain. The white buttercream you see was originally meant to be cinnamon flavoured, but idiot that I was – I’d forgotten about it completely only at the moment I’d piped it onto the cupcakes! But it turned out good because it kept things simple. The next disappointment was the almost-unnecessary addition of (watch this) cold milk. Cause and effect: my buttercream curdled. 2 preschool mistakes today. Boy, was I utterly annoyed with myself. I’ve made buttercream before. I’ve experience working at a cake shop. So why was I making these silly mistakes?! Honestly? I think everyone has a bad day, or a day where you just space-out and go somewhere else. Which is therefore fine and I’m alright giving myself allowance for mistakes. But, blimey. It has put me in such a mood. I thought I’d publish this on my blog as a reminder to myself of the silly things I do. Besides, this blog is all about kitchen trials and drama. So mistakes are only a natural aspect of it.
When the buttercream started to curdle, I flipped out completely and started screaming my head off. My drama queen days are yet to be over. To top it off, the hand holding the wooden spoon thought it’d be a mighty fine moment to twitch, sending a spray of sifted icing sugar across my Abercrombie top. Seeing as this classifies as a tiny kitchen drama, I honour my blog code with this.
Amateur that I am, I can’t help these setbacks. But good thing is: I learn. At least I hope I do. All is not lost either as this recipe is then kept very simple and classic. As Kate Nash once said, ‘keep it simple, guys. keep it classic’ which is the motto a lot of the blokes I know go by. There have been times when I’ve been accused of meddling too much and overdoing things. Alright, I do admit that once in a while I do go over the top – it’s just cause I like to over-achieve. But somewhere I honestly believe that only when we meddle and play with the classics can we find new classics! And so the original Godfather will remain as it is and even more ‘classic’ than it already is – it’ll be timeless. Let’s just say space of generic transformations of these Godfathers keep moving us forward in time to find new things to try so that cooking is never boring! My favourite Godfather would be the chocolate and vanilla combination. Each on its own works just fine, but together, they’re a phenomenon to behold. So there. Not much to be sad about considering I attempted what I have defined as ‘timeless’ and so I give myself a pat on the back and say ‘ay, not too shabby’.
Good thing that happened out of this was – I’ve found the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever! I have tried different recipes here and there, and they’re all good, just never quite perfect the way I like it. It’s either too dark, or not dark enough; too wet, or too dry. This recipe is moist,but not too moist to the point that it’s gooey; holds its structure well; great taste! and doesn’t taste flat at all; smells amazing and works perfectly well with the simplest of buttercreams. Also, I tend to assume recipes that use blocks of ready chocolate are way better than those which require unsweetened cocoa. Don’t know how that came about but that’s absolute bollocks. This recipe uses cocoa, and doesn’t ask for any complicated, fancy pants ingredients which is great. I have to thank Chockylit for this recipe, it’s her Old Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes and the only thing I’ve altered is the sugar. Instead of using 2 cups of white sugar, I’ve switched it to 1 cup soft dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup caster sugar. Because it’s so simple and as classic as the OREO cookie, it’ll be perfect for kids and adults alike. I know my mum, who is not a big fan of dark chocolateyness, will love this too. Not an overpowering cupcake, it’s a great recipe to keep as a base for any sort of funky recipes you might like to try. Indeed, when there is a wicked thing such as generic transformations, there’s always a time for you to give it a go
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Recipe yields 24 regular cupcakes.
Best Moist Chocolate Cupcakes & Naked Buttercream
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter
1 cup soft dark brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbs coffee granules
1 1/2 cup milk (I used semi-skimmed)
2 tsp vanilla extract
- For the buttercream:
1 cup unsalted butter
3-6 cups of icing sugar (depending on how you like it)
1/4 milk, if needed to thin it
Preheat to 190d Celsius.
Beat butter till soft, smooth, creamy and pale. Add sugar and beat till creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa and coffee granules together. Mix the vanilla and milk together in a small bowl or pouring jug. Add a third of the dry ingredients into batter, mix well. Add half of the liquid, beat well. Alternate till you end with the dry ingredients.
Line muffin tray with liners. Fill cups 2/3 full.
Reduce oven heat to 175d Celsius (this trick is once again thanks to Chockylit). Bake 25-30min.
Let cool completely before icing.
To make the buttercream, beat the buttercream till nice and pale. Add a cup of icing sugar. Give it a good mix then slowly add the rest cup by cup. If it needs thining, add the tiniest bit of milk that is at room temperature! Be careful not to make my mistake. The more sugar you add, the better it is for piping. Or if you’re going to just slap it on the cupcakes with a spoon or palette knife, less sugar is needed.
I have piped this with a plastic bag snipped at the corner. I recommend using a proper piping bag or a baking parchment folded. Also, use a piping tip. Don’t take the lazy, poorman’s route like I have.
If you’ve liked this post, and love old-fashioned classic dishes, watch out for my next post tomorow. I’ll be making Eton Mess! Nothing like strawberries and cream to send you up on a cloud of ecstasy of gastronomic proportions.
April 19th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Those cupcakes look really good. Butter cream is so good that it doesn’t need extra flavours. I had problems making butter cream the first time but the second time it worked out.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Cute! I’ve had this major craving for old fashion cupcakes with a marshmellowy top. This looks like a great recipe. Will try. Thanks!
Fyi – there is this bakery in SF called Miette, they also make something like this. V. delish.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Such a classic combination, and the cupcakes look wonderful! Simplicity is truly often best.
April 20th, 2008 at 4:43 am
haha the “lazy, poorman’s route” is how I always do it! These look great!
April 20th, 2008 at 5:27 am
Your cupcakes look cute! Looks like it a cupcake week – so many blogs posting cupcakes – yummy for my tummy:)) Great recipe! And presentation too!
April 20th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Your cupcakes look so beautiful! I’m thinking even the addition of cinnamon was not needed
They truly are gorgeous!
April 20th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
They look really pretty, especially the naked buttercream!
I’ve seen a few chocolate cake type recipes with coffee in them recently – I must try it next time
April 24th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
these cupcakes are exactly what i’m looking 4 to make 4 my daughters bake sale at school. thanks
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Ill definitely try this tomorrow!!! wish me luck
November 15th, 2008 at 10:23 am
hi! just to let you know i used this recipe for a birthday party i went to today and can i just say that when you said they were moist… they were really moist! thank you very much! will post the recipe on my blog with credits to you.
November 30th, 2008 at 5:46 am
Hello! i’m gonna try your recipe…but..i’d just like to ask..whats the coffee for??
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
super super super cakes! thanks so much. i beat the butter for ages and it really made a difference. great cakes for 4yr old’s school cake stall, he helped and then added a sweet on the top of the buttercream icing (I added vanilla). made ‘hundreds using pampered chef mini muffin tin.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:12 am
truly my breakthrough! yes i made it perfectly delicious. it was the best moisted chocolatey cupcakes!! yummy! my 2 yr old kiddo loved it.
i replaced coffee with 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder.
thanks much!!!
January 27th, 2009 at 7:28 am
oh you are a tease! if only you could send me one of these! Sprinkle a bit of grated cinnamon on top. No one will ever know that you forget it in the frosting LOL!
May 1st, 2009 at 12:06 am
These were the best choco cupcakes hands down, thanks!
May 1st, 2009 at 11:57 pm
This looks amazing. I want to try the cupcakes, but the buttercream recipe confused me a tiny bit. Does “To make the buttercream, beat the buttercream till nice and pale. ” mean beat the butter? I’m TERRIBLE with nummy frostings, so I thought I’d ask. Your blog is awesome, btw.
May 13th, 2009 at 3:31 am
[...] recipe I used is from Sugar Bar’s Best Moist Chocolate Cupcakes… and can I just say that they really are the best, moist cupcakes I’ve ever tried. [...]
May 24th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Is this a British recipe? I noticed the oven temperature is in celcius. I believe measuring spoons are different in north America and Europe.
May 25th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Ythgirl: yep. I bake according to British measurements. And indeed, cup and baking spoons measurements will differ a little from American ones. But you should be able to find conversion charts relatively easy in most baking books or websites
xx
June 10th, 2009 at 8:02 am
the best chocolate cupcake recipe!! thanks!
June 17th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Been having terrible problems trying to stop my Cheeky Chocolate Cuppies from pulling away from the liners after I take them out the oven..after searching for hours I came across your recipe and I am going to try baking it tomorrow and see what happens…watch this space, I will be back with the results….
Thanks in advance
Ruth in Abu Dhabi
August 28th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Was just wondering, need to make cupcakes for childs birthday party for tomorrow and wanted to clarify some information. Do you use dutch processed cocoa or any regular cocoa (hersheys? Another questions is do you use All purpose flour or cake flour..etc? Hopefully I get a response on time. Thanks.
September 15th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
OMG I’m soooo going to make these. i googled very moist chocolate cupcakes and yours came up first. thanks a billion! they look AMAZING!
September 16th, 2009 at 2:35 am
Leah: oh thank you for visiting the Sugar Bar! i’m glad you like what you see. Hope the recipe’s good for you and lemme know how it turn out
best wishes darling
xx
September 16th, 2009 at 2:44 am
thanks for sharing this recipe. I just made a batch this morning and they were indeed very moist and tasty. I’m going to use them for my 3yr old’s b’day party this weekend. By the way, the recipe is so easy to make, you should consider calling it ‘easy peasy best moist choco cupcake’.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:43 am
it have been my ultimate quest to find that perfect chocolate cupcake recipe… i have been trying a lot of those posted online, but never found anything close to what i like.. i tried your recipe, and man! these cupcakes kick up a punch! they were perfectly moist, even without any icing ( i made some buttercream to top it for my kids, they all loved it. but i really preferred mine naked)
thank you so much for sharing this! you are so generous! keep posting more of these please!!
October 29th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Hi, I was searching for the a Moist Chocolate Cupcake Recipe for my son’s children’s party in school and i found yours. I was very convinced to try it out after reading through your recipe. I tried and its delicious, its moist and it’s not dry at all. Taste rich too. Thanks for sharing.:)
October 31st, 2009 at 8:02 pm
These are the best cupcakes ever! Truly moist and very chocolaty! I have made them about 6 times since I discovered your post! Thanks for sharing!!
November 1st, 2009 at 12:07 pm
My kids love the cupcakes. I used it for their Halloween cupcakes.
December 17th, 2009 at 7:48 am
Did everybody followed the measurement to the t and just did the conversion of the oven temperature? Please let me know, my daughter is having a birthday next week and I want to use this recipe.
Thanks
December 19th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
These look absolutely amazing! I wanted to mail a batch of amazing chocolate cupcakes as an early Christmas gift and these super-moist ones look like the perfect sort. One tiny problem…I’m in a rush and I’m also in the States. Has anyone taken this recipe as-is, without the conversions? How’d they turn out?
February 10th, 2010 at 2:10 am
These look great. I’m just wondering if I’m supposed to use instant coffee or regular coffee? Silly question? Maybe, but I just don’t know.
February 15th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
one word. YUM.
April 2nd, 2010 at 8:00 am
Just made these, and they are perfectly moist and absolutely delicious! Perfect for this cloudy Melbourne afternoon. Thanks for sharing!
April 27th, 2010 at 12:27 am
Thank you for this lovely recipe! I just made it on a boring afternoon and am so happy!!!
May 9th, 2010 at 9:26 am
I can’t express how absolutely perfect these cupcakes were. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to cupcakes- the cake itself has to be perfectly moist, not too sweet, and just the right amout of richness. This will be without a doubt my new favorite recipe. Just as a little surprise, I injected some vanilla pudding into the middle before frosting them and it turned out wonderfully. I brought them to a party tonight and they were a raging success. Thank you SO much for this recipe!!
May 15th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
has anyone tried freezing these cupcakes? I was thinking of using this recipe for my sisters wedding but would like to make and freeze the cupcakes up to a month before the wedding. might have to make a “test batch”
July 1st, 2010 at 9:46 am
Oh, my gosh! I was looking for recipe for delicious cupcakes for my boyfriend’s birthday, and I stumbled accross yours. Little did I know the absolute decadence it would deliver. It was hard work, (I don’t have all the fancy gadgets and had to blend and mix by hand…phew)but it was totally worth it. I added a little bit of Vanilla and Cocoa to the icing, and topped each cupcake with half a Pecan Nut. Thank you so much!
July 1st, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Marlé: I’m really thrilled to hear that and glad that the recipe worked out for you. It is one of the richest but still light enough not to give you a sorethroat type of chocolate cupcake recipes I have. Love what you did with the icing
Pecan nuts are yum. x
July 27th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
I just finished making these cupcakes and are currently in the oven baking. I couldn’t resist tasting the batter (something I really never do) and it is sublime. It has the taste of a velvety smooth chocolate cake but a fudgy texture which I would imagine when finished will be lusciously moist. My son is pacing in front of the oven waiting rather impatiently for them to finish baking.
July 28th, 2010 at 9:38 am
busybee: You make me happy knowing that there are people still trying out this recipe! Let me know how it goes and I do hope you and your son love it. xx
August 7th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Please let me know if coffee granulates are the same as instance coffee? Also 3/4 cup is 1 1/2 sticks of butter right? Thanks!
August 8th, 2010 at 9:29 am
Kieu: Hi there, the conversion for the butter sounds about right. you can double check it here: http://www.ochef.com/837.htm
Coffee granules would definitely be instant coffee granules. Hope that’s helpful.
x
August 14th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
hello,
thank you for this recipe in advance.. it sounds perfect..i can tell even though i havent made the recipe yet. please tell me what is caster sugar? i’m from usa. not sure if that has something to do with it or not but i’ve never heard of it…and the oven temp you said 190….in usa i don’t know how to convert that?? let me know if you get a chance cause i can’t wait to try your recipe!! Thanks…Aja
August 16th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Dear Aja, caster sugar is superfine sugar as opposed to your regular sugar or coarse sugar. Caster is normally the preferred choice for baking. In terms of oven temp, 190d Celsius is 375d Farenheit or you can get gas mark numbers here on this page : http://bitsyskitchen.com/conversion.html
Hope this helps! I hope this recipe works for you. It’s one of my favs
coffee + choc is always a good combo, even in a cupcake! x
August 25th, 2010 at 5:41 am
I’m excited to try this out on my friends for her bday! When I saw Ina Garten use coffee in her cupcakes and I tried on lazy “easy box” method, they were super good. But now I’m ready for the real deal!
August 26th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Ian: Thanks for visiting! I do hope it works out well. My mum adds chocolate to her morning coffee without fail every day! It is definitely a great combo…
August 29th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
what if i use salted butter?