Chocolate Cupcakes 3 Ways!

Between last Thursday and Saturday, I have experimented (successfully) with 3 variations on the basic chocolate cupcake. The first two, Chocolate-Raspberry & Chocolate-Coconut, were special requests from a coworker. The third, Chocolate-Red Wine, was inspired by a menu item at Potion Cupcakes in NYC. I had a lot of fun eating and sharing all of these recipes!

Chocolate-Raspberry Cupcake

1 recipe Basic Chocolate Cupcakes

1 recipe Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1 16 oz. jar raspberry preserves (with seeds)

2 cups powdered sugar

fresh raspberries and chocolate sprinkles, as garnish

Prepare the Chocolate Cupcake batter as directed. Fill muffin pan lined with paper cupcake liners, filling each well about 2/3 full. Place approximately 1 tbs. of preserves in the center of each well. This may require slightly less than 1 tbs., depending on how full you filled the papers with the batter. Each well should be filled about 3/4 full. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 16 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Prepare the frosting as directed, adding about 2/3 cup preserves with the vanilla and chocolate. Because of the addition of the "wet" preserves, and additional 2 cups of powdered sugar may be required with the final addition of the sugar. The taste and texture of the powdered sugar will vary depending on how it will be applied and what aesthetic you are aiming to achieve.

Garnish each cupcake with a light sprinkle of chocolate sprinkles (jimmies) and a fresh raspberry (washed and dried well.)

Chocolate-Coconut Cupcake

1 recipe Basic Chocolate Cupcakes

1 recipe Vanilla Bean Buttercream

2 tbs. coconut extract

2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut

Prepare chocolate cupcake batter as directed, substituting coconut extract for vanilla extract. Bake as directed. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

Prepare vanilla buttercream frosting as directed, substituting coconut extract for vanilla extract.

Place the flaked coconut in a medium size bowl. Create an even mound of frosting on the top of a cupcake. Invert the cupcake into the bowl of coconut. Roll the cupcake in a circular motion until all of the frosting is coated with coconut.

Chocolate-Red Wine Cupcakes

1 recipe Basic Chocolate Cupcakes

1 recipe Vanilla Bean Buttercream

2 1/4 cups Red Wine (I used a Shiraz)

Place the wine in a small sauce pan and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by about 1/3.

Prepare the chocolate cupcakes as directed, substituting 1 cup of the simmered wine for the hot water. Bake as instructed. Cool completely.

Prepare the vanilla bean buttercream frosting as directed, substituting 1/2 cup of the reduced wine for the milk and excluding the vanilla bean.

Frost each cupcake with the wine frosting.

I also tried a great Almond Cupcake recipe, which I will be sharing soon. This should prove to be a busy week, so I doubt I'll be trying any new recipes, but I will certainly be looking for inspiration!

Basic Chocolate Cupcake

Last night, I made Chocolate-Raspberry, Chocolate-Coconut, and Almond cupcakes for a co-worker's birthday. I think I would be getting ahead of myself if I posted these recipes before I posted my favorite Chocolate Cupcake recipe!

When I went looking for this recipe, I knew I wanted one with some sort of oil instead of butter (oil seems to make the moistest cupcakes...) At first, I wanted a recipe that called for melted chocolate instead of cocoa, because I thought it would make a richer, moister cake. However, after reading several articles and trying several of these recipes, I decided that the melted chocolate gave the cake a more dense, dry texture. Maybe adding some oil to one of those recipes would have remedied this, but I never actually tried it. I tested several other recipes before deciding to try the recipe on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box. I reasoned that if anyone would know how to make a good chocolate cake, it would be Hershey's, right? Right!! I did swap the white sugar for brown sugar, upped the cocoa from 3/4 cup to 1 full cup, upped the vanilla, and substituted the milk for buttermilk. The remainder of the recipe is just as the Hershey Company had written it.

(Absolutely the Best ) Chocolate Cupcakes (in the World)

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil (canola, vegetable, or any nut oil will work)
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup boiling water (microwaved works just fine)

Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, powder, and soda. Mix in the sugar. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Mix on medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add the hot water and mix well.

Scoop the batter into a lined muffin pan, filling each well about 2/3 - 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the cake springs back when gently touched and a toothpick comes out clean.

And you can't have a perfect chocolate cupcake without perfect chocolate fosting:

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

3 sticks butter, room temperature
1 32 oz. bag powdered sugar (about 7 cups)
6 oz. melted, cooled semisweet or unsweetened chocolate (about 1 cup chocolate chips)
1 tbs. vanilla extract

Cream the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer for about 3 minutes. Add 4 cups powdered sugar. Mix slowly until combined, then raise speed to medium-high for 2 minutes. Add vanilla and chocolate. Mix until combined. Slowly add remaining sugar until desired taste and consistency is reached.

Note: For a light, airy frosting, use the whisk attachment on your mixer. For a denser, richer frosting, use the paddle attachment and mix on a lower speed once the powdered sugar is added to the butter. Frosts about 24 cupcakes.

Now I can share my new cupcake creations! I will be posting them in another blog, as I think chocolate cupcakes deserve their very own post :)

Mojito Cupcake

This weekend was a busy baking weekend for me! I was able to try out a recipe for mojito cupcakes, baked cinnamon rolls, and chocolate molten cakes. The mojito cupcakes turned out really yummy, so here's the recipe:

1 recipe of vanilla cupcakes

1 recipe of lime curd (see below)

1 recipe of vanilla buttercream frosting

1/2 cup light rum

2 tsp. lime zest

1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped

Bake the vanilla cupcake recipe as instructed, adding 2 tsp. lime zest into the batter with the vanillas and 1/4 cup rum with the milk. Cool cupcakes completely. Pipe lime curd into the center of each cupcake. (Note - I found using a piping bag fitted with the long, thin tip intended for this purpose very difficult. I, instead, used a "flavor injecting" syringe. It did a much better job of delivering the most filling with the least mess.) Last, follow the instructions for the buttercream frosting, adding the chopped mint with the vanilla and 1/4 cup rum with the milk. Frost each cupcake with the mint buttercream. Garnish cupcakes with mint sprigs, as desired.

The first time I made these, I didn't put the lime zest into the cupcake batter. This yielded a good cupcake, but it needed a little more flavor. I also used 1/2 fresh mint and 1/2 mint extract, as my grocery store was out of fresh mint. I would not recommend this, as the frosting tasted a bit like toothpaste. All-in-all, this was a great, summery cupcake!

Lime Curd

2 Tbs. lime zest

1 cup lime juice

1 1/2 cups white sugar

4 large eggs

2 sticks unsalted butter

In a metal or glass bowl, whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs. Cut butter into 8 pieces and add to mixture. Create a double boiler by setting the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook mixture, whisking occasionally, until thickened and smooth, about 20 minutes. For best results, allow mixture to cool completely in the refrigerator before filling cupcakes.

I am baking 3 new flavors for a coworker's birthday this Friday - Chocolate Coconut, Almond, and Chocolate Raspberry. I am very excited about trying out the new flavors and my new cake boxes/packaging! There will definetly be new pictures and recipes posted this weekend...