These moist chocolate cupcakes from scratch are literally loaded with chocolate. The cupcake batter has cocoa powder in it and the cupcakes are topped with chocolate sprinkles before baking.
Once baked, these decadent treats are decorated with dark chocolate buttercream. More sprinkles are added to complete the cupcakes. How is that for triple chocolate loaded cupcakes?
These cupcakes are pretty easy to make. They are soft, moist, and fluffy and last well at room temperature for a good 3 to 4 days. I chose to decorate the cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. And this frosting, I must say, pairs really well with the chocolate cupcakes.
The highlight of these made from scratch chocolate cupcakes, other than their soft, moist, and fluffy texture is that I used a lot of chocolate sprinkles in them. I added some to the top of the cupcakes before baking them and added some more on each cupcake after frosting them. Hence the triple chocolate loading- chocolate batter, chocolate sprinkles, and chocolate frosting!
Table of contents
How to Make
Ingredients
These made from scratch cupcakes are very easy to make. The ingredients used are pretty basic too. These are the ingredients needed for the cupcakes:
- Self-raising flour + baking powder + salt + cocoa powder
- Castor sugar + brown sugar
- Butter
- Eggs
- Milk
- Vanilla Essence
- Chocolate Sprinkles
And for the frosting and decoration, these are the ingredients needed:
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Milk
- Chocolate sprinkles
- White and gold sprinkles
Mixing the batter from scratch
These cupcakes are made from scratch using the creaming method which means butter and sugar are creamed together until light and fluffy before all other ingredients are added one by one.
- To start with, put butter and brown sugar in a deep bowl and cream both until they turn light and fluffy. This should take a good 2 minutes on medium to high speed. Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl at least once so that the butter and sugar are uniformly mixed.
- Next is the eggs. Add these one at a time. And each time, make sure you beat them until there are no more traces of egg before adding the next one.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Fold it in.
- Alternately the flour with milk. Start and end with the flour mix.
Baking the cupcakes
- To complete the cupcake batter, add the vanilla essence and give it a good mix.
- Pour the batter into prepared cupcake casings.
- Top the cupcakes batter with chocolate sprinkles. Add about half a teaspoon on top of each cupcake.
- Bake the cupcakes until done, but make sure you do not over bake them. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting and decorating them with chocolate buttercream and more sprinkles.
Decorating
- For the chocolate buttercream, start by creaming the butter, and then add the powdered sugar gradually. Next, sift in the cocoa powder and beat until the frosting is all smooth and creamy. It is important that you sift the cocoa powder into the buttercream to avoid lumps of cocoa powder in your buttercream.
- You can decorate the cupcakes any way you wish. For the design on this page, I used a large star piping tip to pipe my frosting onto the chocolate cupcakes.
- Start with a first round of stars all around the edges of the cupcakes.
- Following that, pipe more stars in the center to cover the entire cupcake tops.
- Add chocolate sprinkles all over the stars. And finally, add some tiny white and gold sprinkles on the cupcakes to complete the cupcakes.
And that's pretty much how I made and decorated my chocolate cupcakes from scratch.
Notes
Ingredients at room temperature
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature, especially the butter and eggs. If either one is cold, your cupcake batter will curdle. If that happens, add some flour until it is no longer curdled.
- The best way is to avoid the curdling by making sure butter and sugar are at room temperature.
Use good quality cocoa powder
- These are chocolate cupcakes, so it's important that you use good quality cocoa for best results.
Do not over bake
- Overbaking will cause your chocolate cupcakes to be dry, so be cautious with overbaking. Test the cupcakes with a skewer at least a few minutes before the baking time is over. Ideally, the skewer should have a few moist crumbs attached to it (not wet batter).
Baking time depends on the size of the cupcakes
- For this recipe, I used muffin cups. These are slightly larger than the standard cupcake casings, so if you are using the standard cupcake casing, you would need to reduce your baking time accordingly. Test the chocolate cupcakes a few minutes before the baking time is up just to be sure.
Keep the cupcakes covered while cooling down
- An important tip to ensure your cupcakes remain truly moist is to keep them covered while cooling down. Cover them with a kitchen towel while you leave them out to cool down. This will help the cupcakes remain moist and do not dry out.
Storing the cupcakes
- Store the cupcakes in an airtight container. These made from scratch cupcakes last for a good 4 to 5 days at room temperature. If you wish to keep them longer, refrigerate them.
Add milk if the buttercream is stiff
- The cocoa powder used in the chocolate buttercream will make it stiff. Add some milk to make turn it into an easily pipe-able consistency.
Like this easy chocolate recipe? Here are my other recipes you might want to check out
- Vanilla Cupcakes from Scratch - A Homemade Recipe
- How to Color Sprinkles the Easy Way
- Sprinkles Cupcakes Decorating Ideas
- Super Moist Vanilla Cake - A Made from Scratch Recipe
- Chocolate Cake Recipe - the Best Ever!
- Happy Birthday Cupcakes - Elegant Cupcakes for Mom
Recipe (Printable)
Here is the printable version of my recipe for chocolate cupcakes from scratch. And while you are at it, don't miss my recipe notes right above. They contain absolutely useful tips for the best, made from scratch, super moist chocolate cupcakes ever!
Chocolate Cupcakes From Scratch
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 120 g butter
- 75 g castor sugar
- 25 g brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 30 g cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoon milk
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla essence
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles
Frosting & Decoration
- 110 g butter salted
- 220 g powdered sugar (sifted)
- 25 g cocoa powder (sifted)
- 2 tablespoon milk (more if buttercream is stiff)
- 5 teaspoon chocolate sprinkles (as required)
- white and gold sprinkles (as required)
Instructions
- Prepare your cupcake casings.
- Preheat oven to 170°Celsius.
- Beat butter and both sugars till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Fold in the sifted ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour.
- Add in the vanilla essence and mix well.
- Pour batter into baking cups until they are about two thirds full. Sprinkle about ½ teaspoon for chocolate sprinkles on top of the cupcakes batter.
- Bake the chocolate cupcakes for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on the size of the casing you use) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out without any wet batter sticking to it.
- Remove the cupcakes from oven and let them cool completely before decorating.
- To make the buttercream, cream the butter until soft and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
- Sift in the cocoa powder and beat until it is well blended into the buttercream. Add milk if the buttercream is too stiff.
- Fit a piping bag with a large star tip and pipe chocolate buttercream stars all over the top of each cupcake. Add chocolate sprinkles to each cupcake, followed by the white and gold sprinkles as preferred.
Nutrition
And that is pretty much my recipe for chocolate cupcakes from scratch.
Happy Baking 🙂 🙂
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