BEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES EVER!

These really are the best chocolate cupcakes I have ever made and they are really very easy.  I made them for our baby shower recently and the feedback was so positive I thought I had better share the recipe!

This recipe is very similar to a cake recipe I was given almost 20 years ago and, at the time, I was told it was a ‘top secret’ recipe!  What makes it unique is the coffee and the oil.  I found this particular recipe (although I have slightly varied it) on a blog called “Add a Pinch”.  However, I used a different icing recipe.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes. Try making them; I promise you will not be disappointed and nor will the people you share them with!  Also, don’t be concerned about the coffee, you can’t taste it at all once the cakes are cooked.

What you need

Cakes

1 cup plain flour

1 cup white sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ cup black coffee (boiling – make it just before you need to add it). If you do not have an espresso coffee machine, just substitute the coffee with 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder and ½ cup of boiling water.

Vanilla buttercream icing

115 grams unsalted butter, softened

1 ½ cup icing sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1 tablespoon milk

How to make them

The Cakes

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Place all dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and combine.  

Add milk, oil, egg and vanilla essence to the dry ingredients and stir roughly.  Add your hot coffee and roughly combine.  Mix on medium speed until all combined.

The mixture will seem very runny.  This is how it should be.

To pour the mixture into the cupcake cases, I tip the mixture into a jug because I find it is much easier to transfer to the cake cases.  Fill each cupcake case to about ¾ full.

Bake in oven for 20 – 25mins.  Test with a skewer before taking them out of the oven.  Depending on the size of the cupcake cases you use, you may find you need to give the cakes a bit more time for larger/taller cases For example, in the picture you will see I used taller pink cases and more shallow silver cases. The pink spot cases required an extra 5 minutes in the oven than the silver cases.

When cooked, set aside on a cooling rack until completely cool.

The Icing

To make the icing, place the butter in a bowl and mix until light and creamy.  Gradually add the icing sugar, vanilla essence and milk.  Mix until well combined.  If you need to, you may need a bit more icing sugar.  Just check that the icing is thick enough.

Place the icing in a piping bag with a large nozzle attached and pipe icing onto cakes.  If you don’t have a piping bag, just use a butter knife to spread the icing onto the cakes. 

Tip: You can buy disposable piping bags from the supermarket and they come with a selection of fittings. 

Enjoy!