Happy Halloween!! To celebrate, I've made some festive cupcakes for you with my very favorite chocolate cake recipe. Black Magic Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Icing is an indulgent treat that you won't soon forget! This deep, dark cocoa flavored cake is nothing short of amazing and the perfect chocolate recipe to celebrate Halloween!
I discovered this recipe a while ago on Allrecipes. I knew I would love it since I love the taste of pure cocoa. I used Rodelle® European Dutch Process Cocoa in these cupcakes. I picked up a pound (yes, a pound!) of this excellent cocoa at Costco last week. When I opened the canister, the aroma of chocolate filled my kitchen and I had a feeling it would make these cupcakes special. I was right!
If you like cocoa, like me, you must give this cupcake recipe a try. The batter is quite thin, but don't let the throw you, they bake up beautifully. The chocolate flavor is deep and rich and the cakes are tender and moist.
The simple vanilla bean buttercream icing is the perfect topping to these over-the-top chocolate-y cakes! Now what are you waiting for, get busy baking up a batch of these beauties for all your favorite guys and ghouls!
Black Magic Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Icing
Deep, dark, rich cocoa flavored cakes topped with a sweet, creamy vanilla bean buttercream icing.
Ingredients
- For the cupcakes:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened dutch process cocoa (I used Rodelle®)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup strong brewed coffee (I used 2 tsp espresso powder with 1 cup water)
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- For Icing:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 TBS milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two standard sized muffin tins with paper liners. (I used the parchment ones and LOVE them! Nothing sticks to them!)
- In large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, and salt. Whisk to combine. Make an indention in the middle.
- In a large glass measure or small bowl, combine the eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Pour into the center of the dry ingredients.
- Mix the batter with an electric mixer on medium for 2 minutes. Batter will be thin. Don't worry!
- Fill prepared muffin tins about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on racks.
- While cupcakes are cooling, prepare icing. in large bowl, combine the butter, pinch of salt, and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until butter is fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition until all powdered sugar is combined with the butter. Add milk, 1 TBS at a time, while mixer is running until icing is smooth and spreadable. Frost cupcakes when cool and decorate, as desired.
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 15 mins.
Total time: 35 mins.
Tags: chocolate, cupcakes, cocoa, vanilla bean, icing, cake, dessert
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Happy Halloween everyone! Our weather is supposed to be miserable tonight, so I hope we still get enough trick-or- treaters to give all this candy I decided I needed to have! haha On weather nights like this, I am glad my kids are older and I don't have to venture out into the elements! I can just enjoy the festivities from my nice warm home! haha
I do miss the days when my kids were little and I planned the Halloween parties for their classes at school and handmade all their costumes though. I've kept every single costume I made (really, the only time my sewing machine saw real action!) with hopes my future grandchildren can wear and enjoy them!
I do miss the days when my kids were little and I planned the Halloween parties for their classes at school and handmade all their costumes though. I've kept every single costume I made (really, the only time my sewing machine saw real action!) with hopes my future grandchildren can wear and enjoy them!
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Beautiful, and tasty, what is not to love.
ReplyDeleteLove how festive and chocolaty these are and the vanilla bean frosting sounds like the perfect pairing! I think I need to go pick up a pound of cocoa myself!
ReplyDeleteThese cupcakes look really..magical!
ReplyDeleteI love baking with cocoa and went through an entire container of that Rodelle from Costco. I thought they stopped carrying it so I'll have to keep my eye out for it next time. These look SO good.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone tried to make the mix ahead of time and refrigerate it? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this recipe. This has quickly become my go-to recipe for chocolate cake as it is deliciously moist, has the perfect consistency and the depth of chocolate flavor is perfect for adult tastes. With just a teenie bit of buttercream icing it suits those that don't have a huge sweet tooth. Even my husband (who doesn't eat nearly as many sweets as I do) can't wait for me to bake this recipe, because he knows he gets to enjoy the tops of the cakes and/or the ugly cupcakes :). I love this recipe, and so does everyone that I make it for, so thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you <3
Thank you for your review!
DeleteI rarely make cupcakes but I wanted to make some so that my husband and I could have a few and then have him take the rest of them to his office to share.
ReplyDeleteI've used this recipe (only using Hershey's since Hershey's developed it) for decades now but never made it in the cupcake form and I needed the time/temp for them. I landed on this recipe and the time and temperature were perfect. Well, actually, even with convection turned off on my oven it still has better hot air circulation than conventional requiring me to reduce the temperature to 335°F and reduce the cook time to 19 minutes.
I had purchased and made a box mix a few weeks ago after I saw "dark chocolate" as the description. Ugh. It was dry and miserable. So I knew then that I had to go back to Hershey's recipe.
Anyone on the fence about trying this recipe for the first time should know that it is identical to the original recipe that my mother copied from the back of her tin of Hershey's cocoa back in the 60s? - it could have been early 70s. The only difference is the brand of cocoa used. It is the best tasting, most moist chocolate cake in the world and, as a bonus, it isn't sickeningly sweet!
The only thing that I adjust is to switch out the instant coffee granules with instant espresso granules for a deeper, richer taste.
Thank you for your review!
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