Photo from Wikimedia Commons
From the blog Transplanted Taste Buds (reposted with permission, found via Bostonist):
We're not sure how or even when exactly it happened, but somewhere along the way, cupcakes became the hottest trend in cafes and bakeries around the country. What we are sure of, though, is that we've always loved the cupcake and therefore we don't really care who brought them back. Though it's easy to find chic upscale cupcakes these days, there's nothing better than a dark, moist chocolate cupcake covered in chocolate buttercream.
Ingredients:
1 stick Butter, room temperature
1 1/4 C. Sugar
2 Eggs, room temperature
3/4 C. Flour
1 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
1/2 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
* You always hear people say this, but truly, using the best cocoa powder you can afford makes a world of difference...
1/2 C. Whole Milk
1 t. Vanilla
Yield: 12-14 cupcakes
Method: Preheat oven to 375 degrees, then turn it down to 350 just prior to baking
1. Beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is soft, then add sugar. Beat about 3 minutes.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until they are well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk them to incorporate them.
4. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar and beat it just to combine. Add 1/2 of the liquids (milk & vanilla), scrape down bowl and beat to combine. Continue adding the dry and wet ingredients alternately making sure you END WITH THE DRY.
5. Fill muffin tins 2/3's of the way and bake for about 20-22 minutes. Allow to cool, then frost.
Chocolate Buttercream (This frosts about 24 cupcakes if you're doing it the old fashioned way-if you're piping it on fancy-like, it'll be only about 14)
1 Stick Butter, softened
1/2 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
4 C. Confectioner's Sugar
1/4 C. Milk (plus a few Tablespoons to adjust consistency)
1 t. Vanilla
Beat butter and cocoa until smooth, then add sugar 1 cup at a time, beating with each addition. Add milk and vanilla and beat for about 3 minutes.
Easy Peasy!
Comments
What does C. mean? What does t. mean?
And who much is a 'stick' of butter?
Thanks.
a "t" is a teaspoon
a "stick" is 1/4 of a pound.
Is it mudcake texture or sponge texture?
Thanks.
What is this cupcake texture like?
Is it like mudcake texture or sponge texture?
1. Make sure that you've followed the recipe measurements.
2. Ensure that you're baking your cupcakes for the entire time that is required. Don't over bake them but if they're not cooked thoroughly the flour will set.
DON'T MAKE THESE - several others have commented negative results as well.
I'm sorry some of you had trouble....
http://www.marthastewart.com/282243/one-bowl-chocolate-cupcakes
Pro's..........:
Delicious,chocolatey and moist. The taste is actually really really great BUT BUT BUT BUT
BUT
As many of the reviewers have reported, the cupcakes "fell" meaning they didn't really rise correctly and if you bake them with the cupcake wrapper paper as I did then when you try to peel it off the whole cupcake basically falls apart and sticks to the paper terribly and you end up eating the crumbled pieces and scraping the wrapper. I did another batch and added 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to see if it helped the cakes rise better but got the same result so.... not sure what to do or what tweaks to make to the original recipe to make it right but it definitely needs something. Sucks because they taste sooooooo gooooood.
My guesses for why these might fall: liquid ratio might be off due to humidity in the air. Not enough baking powder. Possibly overcreaming the butter.