Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes
Happy Monday! I hope you had a great Father's Day yesterday. We celebrated with our favorite Olympia Provisions sausage, homemade potato salad, and roasted green beans, and these gorgeous chocolate cupcakes for dessert. It's been so long since I made them last that I had forgotten how delicious they are! I've made a lot of chocolate cupcakes in my day, but it's always a challenge to keep them moist and tender. For some reason, homemade chocolate cupcakes always just seem to be dry and crumbly. This recipe, though, is a keeper! It's just as moist as any chocolate cake I've had from a bakery, but has an amazing chocolate flavor and tastes way better than store-bought.
Not only are these cupcakes beautiful and delicious, they're easy to make too! I mentioned last week on Instagram that I got a new stand mixer (which I have lovingly named Mignon, after a suggestion from a follower). It's smaller than the mixer I've been using for the past eight years, so I've been having fun experimenting with making all my favorite recipes in it. These cupcakes were a snap to whip up, and turned out perfect! I used my trusty reverse-creaming method, and grated the butter into the dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients. I know it sounds strange, but I promise, it makes for the lightest, most tender texture. I've had such great results that I don't think I can go back to doing it the other way!
These chocolate cupcakes are the perfect way to celebrate someone you love!
Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes
for the cupcakes:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) cold butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
for the frosting:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter
3.5 ounces (1/2 tub) marshmallow cream
1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons half and half or heavy cream
sprinkles (optional)
Preheat the oven to 350. Line 12 wells of a muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the sugar, flour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Grate the butter into the flour mixture, and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the greek yogurt and vanilla, and mix well. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling wells 1/2 - 2/3 full. Bake 15 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and let cool completely.
To make the frosting, beat together the butter and marshmallow cream until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy. Add additional powdered sugar or half and half as needed to make a smooth, pipeable frosting. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles if desired.
Read more..