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.
October 19th, 2010 at 3:13 am
mirdz: there isn’t a strong coffee taste. In fact, you can hardly taste it at all It only makes the chocolate taste a bit darker.
October 25th, 2010 at 5:42 am
These were okay. I really liked the strong chocolate flavor – it was delicious, but they were definitely not moist. I found them to be pretty dry and I can only imagine how dried out they’ll be in a day or two. I need something a lot more moist for my tastes… but it still has great flavor.
January 23rd, 2011 at 4:16 am
What kind of coffee do you use? Instant or perk?
January 23rd, 2011 at 6:07 am
Amy: Hi there, I’ve used instant coffee granules although you can use instant espresso as well.
January 24th, 2011 at 3:24 am
I recently started baking cupcakes. And these are truly yummy, moist cupcakes. Thanks for the tip on letting the milk come to room temp.
February 14th, 2011 at 5:12 am
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February 14th, 2011 at 8:38 am
I’ve made these a few times and I ended up with lovely moist cupcakes. They were still moist after 2-3 days and still delicious. (Actually more moist after a day in the fridge).
Samantha, I think u should watch ur baking time.
I don’t like icing on my cupcakes and I think the base is good enough to do without icing. I can’t seem to get the perfect dome shape of a risen cupcake, though. They always end up with a flat surface… which is ok if I wanted to put icing on. If I baked it a little longer to get that round top, the middle would rise but it’d crack after a while.
February 15th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
nisa: Thank you for your lovely comment Nisa! That’s so encouraging to know that the recipe has worked out for you. Normally, I like to let chocolate cakes or cupcakes sit for up to 3 days, the 2nd day gets the chocolate tasting a lot richer.
If your fridge isn’t too cold, the cake could keep a while without drying out too much.
Ps. I’m always trying to get a flat surface for my cupcakes but they seem to love growing nipples! Makes icing it a little more time-consuming having to slice the top flat! xx
March 13th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
Two quick questions
1. For the coffee does tbs mean teaspoons or tablespoons (in the uk teaspoons are tsp and tablespoons are tbsp so not sure which tbs is)
2. Could I use self raising sponge flour (cake flour) which i believe has a lower protein content than plain flour. Or would it be better to stick to plain flour.
Thanks
March 30th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Made these today- they were AMAZING!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
April 10th, 2011 at 6:17 am
C: Not a problem dearest. Thanks for using it and I am glad you liked it. x
April 10th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Will the buttercream stays ‘up’ for several days and not collapsing?
Thanks.
April 11th, 2011 at 9:14 am
Mtan: the weather is awfully warm and muggy here so I did notice the buttercream melting a little unless it was kept in the refrigerator. Hope that helps. I haven’t made these in cooler weather. x
April 12th, 2011 at 2:45 am
A good recipe, the taste of the batter had my kids excited. Thanks for sharing.
April 17th, 2011 at 5:52 am
Wow. This is a really good recipe! I love the texture and the chocolaty flavor – and they were moist too. For those who aren’t very good at Celcius to Farenheit conversion like me – start at 375, drop temp to 350 when putting the cupcakes in. I put an overflowing tablespoon of batter in the bottom of each, then a whole regular sized Reese’s peanut butter cup, then filled the rest of the way to 2/3 full with batter. Baked 26 minutes. Made peanut butter frosing with them. Soooooo good. Thanks for this yummy chocolate recipe! I will use it again and again…
April 27th, 2011 at 6:36 am
What’s 2 tbs coffee granules?Did you mean tbsp? Would 2 tbsp espresso shot suffice?
April 27th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Zita: Yes 2 tbs = 2 tablespoon of instant coffee granules. That sounds like it should be fine although I would use 1 tablespoon instead of 2 since that might be a little too strong. Let me know how it turns out. Good luck. x
June 14th, 2011 at 8:17 am
Is that plain flour? or SR?
I learnt a good trick re flattening cake – when they come out of oven and still hot flatten them by pressing a whole cookie sheet / flat tray on top of cakes. also make sure they aren’t over filled as when u do this rap will go everywhere!!
July 28th, 2011 at 10:00 am
Goodness me – this recipe is brilliant! So light, so moist, so divine! I used peppermint essence instead of vanilla and no coffee…fabulous! I’m going to do a green(ish) butter cream with Aero shavings.
THANK YOU!
July 29th, 2011 at 2:33 pm
I super love the recipe. I baked it for my daughters 14th birthday and it’s a success…
Thank you gorgeous for sharing us your talent!
August 2nd, 2011 at 3:18 am
Em’s Cakes and Sweets: OH WOW peppermint essence? I gotta try that. I do love choc and peppermint together (think Aftereights and yes I’m hooked on Aero too ) THanks for the idea love. Really glad you liked this recipe.xx
August 20th, 2011 at 11:21 am
These were amazingggggggggggggggggg!!! i made them for people at work and needless to say i have now become very popular
August 24th, 2011 at 12:21 pm
I tried it today, I think I over baked it a little bit, but my problem was the color, yours has a deep dark brown chocolate color, mine was like milk chocolate.. Dont know why..
August 31st, 2011 at 6:43 am
I have a fan forced oven, should I vary the temperature?
September 11th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
My first time baking cupcakes and found this recipe easy to follow n ingredients easy to find. The results really good. Husband n neighbours well impressed. Thank u.
September 15th, 2011 at 9:33 am
Bart: Hey there, hmmm. I wonder if its to do with the cocoa you have used. Sometimes different brands of cocoa can give you a different colour. Hope it tasted good nonetheless!! x
October 10th, 2011 at 6:51 pm
i just want to know, if i can use cake flour for this recipe?
November 12th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Brilliant recipe.. I loved how moist it turned out….it’s probably the first cupcake I’ve had which doesn’t taste dry. I used self raising flour which was probably why my cupcakes overflowed ( even though I filled the cups two thirds as per your recommendation). Normal flour would probably work better you reckon? The cupcakes also sank a little bit after I took them out of the oven….could I have taken them out too early? Nonetheless, my kids and I were pleased with the result! We decorated them into angry bird cupcakes which will probably be the talk of the school during their snack time!
November 20th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
This recipe is a keeper!! Thanks!
November 28th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
i tried this recipe and all my friends loved it! although it was not sweet enough for me, tasted more like dark chocolate cupcakes, my friends loveeddd itt!! thanks!
December 15th, 2011 at 4:36 am
[...] I looked up a chocolate cupcake recipes and went wild. The recipe I used was the moist chocolate cupcake recipe from The Sugar Bar. It turned out really well. (Note, it has oven temperatures in degrees Celsius. [...]
January 16th, 2012 at 9:41 am
hi! can i use a granulated sugar instead of caster?? =D
January 17th, 2012 at 2:44 pm
jaq: Yes that should be fine. White granulated sugar will work, trying using ones that are more fine (as that’s a lot closer to caster). x