Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

When I say these are the best chocolate cupcakes ever, I mean it. They are perfectly moist(who all cringes at the use of that word??), they aren't so overly rich that you can't function after only one bite, and they are just so fluffy! The original recipe is from Food Network Magazine's May edition, which focused mainly on cupcakes, and I HAD to have it!!!

One thing I LOVE about this recipe is that it is only for ONE dozen cupcakes. This makes it easier to determine how many batches to make. Or if you don't need 24 cupcakes, for instance when it is only two of you and after begging you to make cupcakes he only eats 3 of them...

I tweaked the recipe only slightly by using sweetened vanilla almond milk in substitution for regular milk. If you don't already love almond milk then you need to jump on that bandwagon! But regular milk will obviously work just fine.

Chocolate Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350, and line a 12-cup muffin tin with the cutest cupcake liners you can find.

Whisk 1 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and baking soda in a bowl.

Heat 3/4 cup milk till hot, but not boiling; pour over 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder in a large bowl  and whisk until smooth. Let it cool slightly.

Whisk in one cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup veg. oil, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract till smooth.

Whisk in flour mixture in 3 batches, on a medium speed. Only mix till just combined. Over mixing will cause dense cupcakes.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way (Tip: Use an ice cream scoop to make this step super duper simple)

Bake for 10 minutes, rotate pan, and then continue baking for about 5-8 more minutes, checking periodically. You want the tops to spring back when touched, not leave an indent.

Remove cupcakes from tin immediately!! The longer the cupcakes sit in the hot metal tin, the more they cook, which means dried out cupcakes. Burnt fingers are always better than overdone cupcakes. You can take them out one by one, use a towel and dump the whole pan out, or tilt the pan on its side and take them out individually that way.

Let cool completely on a wire rack before even thinking about frosting those bad boys.



Yummy Vanilla Buttercream:

Beat 1 1/2 sticks softened butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, and a tiny pinch of salt with a mixer on medium speed until combined. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla, mix on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Mix in two tablespoons milk until fluffy, about 1 minute. If you want super stiff frosting that holds its shape perfectly, only add one tablespoon of milk.

Pipe or spread on your new favorite buttercream, and you are done!

These have quickly become my go to cake and frosting recipes, and I use them as the base for so many of my other recipes, which you will most definitely be seeing in the future.

And remember to keep it messy people!

-A.K.