National Chocolate Cupcake Day – October 18th
National Chocolate Cupcake Day is October 18th. While I love cupcakes, they are not my favorite thing to bake. You have spoon the batter neatly into the little cups and they are harder to frost. My daughters bake them far more often than I do.
Basic Chocolate Cupcakes
There is nothing wrong with a plain chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing. It is simple, rich and delicious and is a treat any time. I guess now is the time to confess I don’t make cupcakes from scratch, I use a cake mix. My favorite brand is Duncan Hines, it comes in a ton of flavors, doesn’t taste artificial and bakes up consistently moist and fluffy.
While I can whip up vanilla buttercream icing without a recipe, I struggle with chocolate icing. The buttercream icing with cocoa is never quite chocolatey enough for me. My favorite chocolate icing goes on my Texas Sheet cake. It is a cooked icing that is spread on the cake while it is warm. This icing firms up to an almost fudge-like consistency and is rich and delicious.
I can’t use that icing on a cupcake since it would just run off while the cupcake was warm but the icing below is a close adaptation.
- 1 box chocolate or devils food cake mix
- ingredients called for on cake mix box
- 3/4 cup butter
- 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2-3 Tbsp milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
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Prepare cake mix according to cupcake directions on the box. Bake according to time on the box
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Once the cupcakes have been cooked and cooled, prepare icing.
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Melt butter in the pan or in the microwave. Add vanilla and cocoa powder. Stir until smooth. Add powdered sugar and milk. Add additional powdered sugar or milk for the desired consistency.
My icing was a little thick in the pictures. It was super fudgy when it set up but did not spread well and separated from the cupcake when you tried to eat it. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with having a big chunk of fudgy icing to eat straight but it is not the ideal outcome. If you look at the picture below, the icing has been thinned out with a little milk and was much easier to apply.
S’mores Cupcakes
A post about chocolate cupcakes would not be complete if I didn’t mention my youngest daughter’s birthday cupcakes. She has requested S’mores cupcakes for the last several years. I have experimented with different recipes, including one which called for stuffing a marshmallow inside the batter to create “marshmallow filling”. That did not work, I ended up with a chocolate cupcake with a sticky center but no actual marshmallow goo. Her favorite recipe is below.
Here are a couple recipes on my “Must Try” list.
These French Silk Cupcakes look amazing. French Silk Pie intimidates me but I think I could make these.
My daughter loves Almond Joy candy bars as do I, so these Almond Joy Cupcakes have to be on the list. On a side note if Shelly at Cookies and Cups needs a taste tester I am happy to volunteer!
And last but not least, these Peanut Butter Stuffed Hot Fudge Cupcakes for all you peanut butter and chocolate lovers.
