Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

This is officially my go to chocolate cupcake recipe now. I made 3 dozen of these this week, and again I loved them. These are also what I used for my b-day salted caramel cupcakes. Loved those too. The neat thing about this recipe is that you can leave the batter in the fridge for up to 3 days. I made a triple batch of this batter on Valentine's Day for a fun dessert. I let it sit at room temp for 1 hour and then baked 12. I then refrigerated the rest of the batter for 3 days, pulled it out, and baked the rest. The batter straight out of the fridge is VERY thick, but I just scooped it out and baked them. The are dense like a bakery cupcake, but still moist. I used a basic chocolate buttercream recipe to frost them. You can use all butter, or do part butter, part shortening. I like a little shortening because I feel like the frosting holds it shape better. The frosting recipe frosts 24 while the cupcake recipe makes 12, so you might need to half or double something.

Chocolate Cupcakes
beantownbaker.com
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut up
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1. In a heatproof bowl, combine chocolate and cocoa powder.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the granulated sugar, butter, and water, stirring occasionally, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Pour the butter mixture over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.
3. Whisk the milk, egg, extra yolk, and vanilla into the chocolate mixture until combined.
4. In a bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until blended. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth.
5. Let the batter sit at room temperature for 1 hour or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
6. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly with a fingertip. Set on a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Makes 12 cupcakes

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 TBSPs milk

1. Beat butter and shortening until light and fluffy; 2-3 minutes.
2. Add cocoa powder and vanilla and mix until smooth.
3. Gradually add powdered sugar, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
4. Add milk to reach desired consistency, scraping down sides of bowl.
5. Mix on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes.
6. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes.

Frosts 24 cupcakes