Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Sorry I've been so absent...life has been really hectic and I have lots to share, which I'll get around to doing next week.

In the meantime, I'll tide you over with these double chocolate cupcakes. So, you know how I really don't like chocolate cake? Well, I think these cupcakes have made me a believer. I've tried out dozens of chocolate cake/cupcake recipes over the past few years but I've hated them all. This time, I decided to just use my own recipe and the result was chocolate cupcake perfection. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but somehow it did, and the result is a moist, not too dense but not too light, slightly rich, and perfectly chocolatey cupcake. I just might have to make them again.

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Double Chocolate Cupcakes

8 regular cupcakes or 24 minis

2/3 cup flour
¼ cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder (I used a mix of Ghirardelli and Valhrona)
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
¼ cup milk, room temperature
¼ cup good quality 55-70% chocolate chips, melted and at room temperature (I used Guittard)

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Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with papers and set aside.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat for 15 seconds on medium speed.

Add half the flour mixture, all of the milk, then the remaining flour, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Add the chocolate and mix on medium speed for 10 seconds.

Divide the batter evenly between the lined cups. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15 minutes for minis and 22-25 minutes for regular size, making sure to rotate the pans halfway through.

Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.


[Note: I frosted these with raspberry Swiss meringue buttercream – I used the basic formula and used 2 eggs, ½ cup - 1 tablespoon sugar (I reduced the sugar by 1 tablespoon to compensate for the 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam I’d be adding later), and 1 stick of butter, and added 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam once the frosting came together.]