Introducing my Death By Chocolate Cupcakes. These cupcakes make my world spin round. Rich dark chocolate cake with a hidden pocket of gooey chocolate ganache and a tall topping of creamy dark chocolate buttercream frosting, oh and a scattering of chocolate sprinkles – its chocolate MADNESS I tell you.
They bring back sweet memories of Magnolia Bakery and their pretty chocolate chocolate cupcakes. Sometimes nothing compares to chocolate goodness. Oh who am I kidding? When does anything ever compare to chocolate?
I’ll warn you ahead of time that you can’t stop at just one. These cupcakes are addictive. But they are easy to put together and they are sure to impress your chocoholic family and friends. The soft and tender cakes are made extra tasty with the addition of regular cocoa powder AND dutch processed cocoa.
The darker cocoa adds a lovely depth of flavour which really makes these cupcakes extra special. I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy an extra surprise in my cupcakes, so each one also has a filling of creamy dark chocolate ganache.
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i love injecting my creations using a syringe but if you don’t have one, you can grab a chop stick or similar and use it to poke a hole in each cupcake and then pour the ganache in using a teaspoon. However it gets in there, it doesn’t really matter! But it will be a welcomed surprise when you bite in to your cake.
Ganache is really easy to make and if there is any leftover, you could use it to drizzle over your cupcakes once you have frosted them or just pour it over a bowl of vanilla ice ice cream – either way! 😉
Next comes the delicious buttercream frosting. Again, I used a little of my new favourite baking item – dutch processed cocoa. It adds such a gorgeous dark colour to the buttercream, however if you don’t have any on hand, feel free to swap it out with regular cocoa powder.
If you really want Death by Chocolate Cupcakes though, go for the dutch processed cocoa and then don’t forget to lather on the chocolate sprinkles! This buttercream is creamy and thick, making it perfect for piping. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get baking!
Let’s Bake
Death By Chocolate Cupcakes
Rich dark chocolate cake with a hidden pocket of chocolate ganache and swirls of creamy dark chocolate buttercream frosting.
Ingredients
Chocolate cupcakes
- 105 grams (3/4 cup) plain flour
- 20 grams (1/4 cup) cocoa powder
- 20 grams (1/4 cup) dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- 45 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
Chocolate ganache
- 75 grams (1/2 cup) good quality dark chocolate, chopped
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) Â thickened or heavy cream
Chocolate buttercream
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 375 grams (3 cups) icing or powdered sugar
- 20 grams (1/4 cup) dutch processed cocoa
- 3 tablespoons milk
- Chocolate sprinkles, to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (360 F). Line a 12 hole muffin tin with patty cases. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powders, baking soda, baking powder and then add the sugars. Pop the butter into the microwave for a short burst, 10 seconds or so at a time, until it is just melted. Give it a stir with a fork to eliminate any lumps.  In a separate mixing bowl, add the eggs, vanilla and butter and whisk together until smooth. Then add the wet mixture into the dry mixture, along with the buttermilk and gently fold until just combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared patty cases and pop into the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until just cooked through. Set cakes out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- Next make the chocolate ganache. Finely chop the dark chocolate and place into a bowl. In a small saucepan, warm the cream on a medium-low until it is slightly bubbling but before it is boiling. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate, cover with a plate and leave it for 3-4 minutes. Gently whisk the mixture until it becomes smooth. Refrigerate the chocolate ganache for 15 minutes or so until it thickens slightly. When it reaches your desired consistency, fill each cupcake with a teaspoon of ganache. You could use a syringe to do this or poke a hole in the cake with a chopstick and spoon it in using a teaspoon.
- To make the chocolate frosting, add the butter to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Gently sift in the icing sugar, one cup at a time. Add a tablespoon or two of milk to help loosen up the mixture. Add the cocoa powder and continue to beat. Continue to add a tablespoon of milk if needed. The icing should be nice and creamy but thick enough to hold its shape. Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes using a piping bag and a large star tip. Sprinkle each cupcake with chocolate sprinkles.
Notes
For tips on piping check out my how to decorate cupcakes post.
Laura Vicuña says
The flavor is amazing and it’s so easy to make! However this recipe and the vanilla one, both came short in yield, almost half and that was disappointing. I followed the instructions in both recipes and weighted carefully, do you have any idea of what the reason might be?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Laura, thanks for your comment. Do you mean this recipe only yielded 6 cupcakes? If you used a scale and didn’t change anything, it must either be that your muffin pan is bigger (is it standard or jumbo?) or you filled your holes much more with batter. I only fill mine two thirds full so it creates a nice flat top for decorating.
shala says
correction : dutch processed cocoa*
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely! Or you can use all natural cocoa powder – as long as your cocoa powder is unsweetened!
shala says
in case we dont have dutch processed cupcake ,can we use a darker cocoa powder
Sam says
How can I get the ganache in the cupcakes if I do not have a syringe?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sam, the easiest way would be to cut out little circles of cake in the centre of each cupcake just using a sharp knife. Use a teaspoon to then fill the holes with ganache. You can then place a little bit of cake back on top as a lid or just pipe the frosting directly on top.