Death By Chocolate Cupcakes

A rich chocolate cupcake with a fudge center, and an easy chocolate butter cream frosting topped with mini chocolate chips! Death by chocolate cupcakes? Yes please!

There’s chocolate cupcakes then there’s THESE chocolate cupcakes.

We’re talking death by chocolate with these bad boys. I love me some lemon desserts. I won’t say no to an apple pie. But above all chocolate reigns supreme. So I decide to take it over the top with these.

A perfectly moist chocolate cupcake. With a fudgy filling. And then a whipped ganache frosting.

Ingredients needed

• all purpose flour – I used just good old regular all purpose flour for these.
• natural cocoa powder – Make sure you are using natural unsweetened cocoa powder and not dutch process cocoa powder.
• granulated sugar -For sweetness of course!
• baking powder – to help your cupcakes rise. Make sure it’s fresh. Test the powder by placing some in a bit of hot water to see if it bubbles.
• baking soda- to help your cupcakes rise. Make sure it’s fresh. Test the bakign soda by placing some in a bit of acid (vinegar or lemon juice) to see if it bubbles.
• salt – I used table salt. It helps to balance out the sweetness.
• milk – I used whole milk for this recipe, but any milk would work. 
• eggs- Use large room temperature eggs so they incorporate easily into the batter.
• vegetable oil – Or any neutral tasting oil, such as canola. 
• boiling water – this will make the batter very thin..but VERY moist.
• chocolate- I used chocolate chips to use for the ganache but chocolate chunks or bar chopped into smaller pieces works as well. 
• heavy cream – Nothing else will do for the ganache! 

How To Make These Chocolate Cupcakes

Step 1: Prepare Your Pans

Start by preparing your cupcake pans with cupcake liners.

These are my favorite greaseproof liners that I use all the time. You always want your pans ready though so that your batter isn’t sitting out losing its leavening power.

Step 2: Measure Your Dry Ingredients

Then in a mixing bowl you want to measure your flour, baking powder, baking soda, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, and salt.

Then whisk to combine.

Pro Tip: Use a metal or glass bowl. Avoid plastic because plastic can retain odors and grease over time affecting the quality of your cupcakes. 

Step 3: Add Your Liquid Ingredients

No need for a second bowl! Just add your liquid ingredients (except the boiling water) and whisk together.

Then once it’s combined, add your boiling water and stir. Stir slowly as the batter will be thin and may splash around.

Once the batter is ready you can go ahead and pour this batter into your prepared pans! And bake your cupcakes!

This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes.

My oven only really lets me make one batch of cupcakes at a time. I found that if I put more than one pan in the oven at a time, they just don’t bake up as high and lovely. If your oven is the same as mine, just be sure to place the extra batter in the refrigerator as to slow the reaction of the baking powder and baking soda.

How To Make Filling And Frosting

The best part of these death by chocolate cupcakes is that you use the same recipe for the filling and frosting. You can make the filling and frosting all at once (in the recipe they are listed separately in case you want to switch it out or use something different) but you could make it all together.

It starts with making a chocolate ganache. 

You will use 1/4 of the ganache for the filling. And the rest (3/4) for the frosting. You can make the ganache then wait for it to thicken. Fill your cupcakes. Then use the rest of the ganache to make the whipped ganache frosting. Just place the leftover ganache in  your mixing bowl and mix until light and fluffy.

Then once they are cooled you go ahead and fill your cupcakes. And fill with your chocolate ganache. Then frost with the whipped ganache frosting!

Recipe Tips

• Be sure to measure your flour accurately. For a full tutorial read this post –> How To Measure Flour
• Be sure to use natural unsweetened cocoa powder not dutch process. They are not the same. You can read about the differences in this natural vs dutch process cocoa post.
• When baking these, it’s best to rotate the pans halfway through their baking time. Every oven can have hot spots so they may not bake evenly. Give them a turn in the oven, so they all bake up pretty.
• You can make the filling and frosting all together in the same bowl. Reserve 1/4 of the ganache for the filling. Then whip the rest of the ganache in the mixer for the frosting.
• Once they are baked, be sure to take them out of the pans and cool on a cooling rack. Leaving them in your pans means they will continue to bake and could end up dry.

How Far In Advance Can I Make These Chocolate Cupcakes?

You can make the chocolate cupcakes up to 2 days in advance, unfrosted. Just wrap in plastic wrap and keep at room temperature. You can also make the cupcakes and freeze for up to 2 months.

The frosting and filling can be made up to a week in advance. Just store in your refrigerator for up to a week. The filling you may have to soften a bit before scooping and filling your cupcakes.

And then use the thickened ganache and whip into the ganache. 

If the cupcakes are frosted, it can stay fresh at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, according to Spruce Eats.   

You can also freeze your cupcakes as well months in advance!

Can You Substitute Dutch Process For Regular Cocoa?

No unfortunately you can’t. You can read the differences between natural cocoa and dutch process cocoa.

So when it comes to swapping out these cocoa powder you will be upsetting that chemical balance that was originally achieved when the recipe was written. So save yourself the headache and use the cocoa powder called for.

More Chocolate Recipes:

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes
• New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Caramel Chocolate Oatmeal Bars
• Double Chocolate Cookies
• Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes