King Arthur Bake Along: Chocolate Cupcakes

 Warning:  this blog post will make you drool.

Well, it might. 

If you don't like chocolate, I am not really sure what to tell you. Maybe I should apologize because it's THAT good!

Today I bring you the February Bakealong challenge recipe from the King Arthur website.  

Last month's BakeAlong was this delicious Chocolate Mousse layer cake with a raspberries and it looked amazing.  I made it for Valentine's Day and modified the mousse so it was dairy free and it turned it okay.  The cake part though, that's what stood out as the best part.  So, I thought that for this blog post, I would try the cake recipe out and bake it in the form of cupcakes. 

I also needed an excuse to make cupcakes.  Thankfully, I needed some prizes  encouragement for my Bible Study friend to put on their brave pants and say their Bible verse we have been working on for about a month.  No one can resist chocolate, right?  (and if this failed, I don't know what I was going to do!)  And quite frankly, it worked.  Cupcakes make great motivation! 

 And let me be honest with you.  I had even fancier ideas for these cupcakes, but I didn't have enough cocoa to make the chocolate frosting, and I never bought raspberries.  Plus, I was packaging these up the night before and the raspberries would have left a sad impression on these cupcakes if I had put on them on the night before.  So, I nixed that idea. 

Let's talk cake.  Because that really is the star of the show.  This cupcake batter bakes the most incredibly moist cake with pretty close to perfect sponge.  I just want to eat it over and over again (but I won't because moderation).  These also baked really flat tops, which is amazing!  Most boxed cakes will often times give you a dome, which really isn't ideal for frosting.

I didn't have enough cocoa powder, I had to modify the buttercream frosting to make it vanilla.  It turned out perfect and my husband raved on how it wasn't too sweet, but perfect frosting. So, even though they didn't turn out the way I had envisioned this cupcake to go, I think that now have a new chocolate cake/cupcake recipe that will be my go-to. 

 These cupcakes have really been the star of this week.  The ladies at church seemed to like them, my family loves them, and they were the perfect end of the day treat when we all just needed a little pick me up.  I left a few frosted just for Weston and we just drizzled chocolate syrup over the top. . . can't have too much chocolate, right (and not being able to have frosting is kind of stinky sometimes)? 

So, really.  All I can say is that you need these chocolate cupcakes in your life.  Make sure you give some away, because eating them all may result in a tummy ache and well, making some one else's day is just so much more fun than getting a tummy ache!  So, here's the recipe:

Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk*
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp espresso powder**
3 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325. Carefully measure out your dry ingredients in your mixing bowl.  Add all the wet ingredients carefully and beat at medium speed for about 1 minute until you have a nice smooth batter.  If you are using a stand mixer, I recommend stopping 30 seconds in and scraping the sides of your bowl to make sure it all gets mixed in.  Add your eggs and beat some more.  The batter is really thin and that's perfect! 

Line muffin tin with your favorite liners.  Fill each liner up about half way.  Too full, will give you a muffin top, which is not as much fun with cupcakes.  Bake for 12-17 minutes, depending on your oven.  Use a tester to make sure it comes out clean and touch the top of one and see if it has a little bit of spring.  If it doesn't just bake for a minute to two longer and then check again.

Let cool for 5 minutes before taking out of pan and then place on a wire rack to continue cooling.

I was able to make about 30 cupcakes with this recipe. 

*I am way too cheap to keep buttermilk in my fridge for times like this.  Pour a little less than a cup of milk in your measuring cup and top it off with a bit of vinegar.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes and do a happy dance because you now have buttermilk.  Easy Peasy!

** I use the King Arthur Brand and it is  so worth the cost.  But, you can also substitute the boiling water for a fresh brewed cup of coffee.  The coffee does not give the cake a coffee flavor, but creates a miracle of enhancing the flavor of the chocolate. 

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
(if you are going to pipe all 30, you might want to double your recipe.  Otherwise, this is enough to spread a bit of frosting on each one.)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter (unsalted), at room temperature
pinch of sea salt
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla (or more. . . you decide)

Directions:
Cream together butter and shortening until nice and smooth.  Add sugar, salt and give it a couple rounds on the mixer.  Slowly add milk in to get the desired consistency.  Add vanilla and beat until smooth.  Frost as desired.

I sprinkled mini chocolate chips on each one after each pipe.  If you wait to long, the chocolate chips won't stick. 

Also, the original recipe, found here, has a delicious mousse that would be fantastic if you used it as a filling.  Just an idea. 

Enjoy!  And Happy Baking!