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I was that kid who spent her afternoons with an apron on destroying my Mom’s kitchen.
Every single time I began to bake, I promised my Mom over and over that I would clean the kitchen until it was spic and span.
But here’s what would happen. I would get so excited about getting my cupcakes or cookies in the oven that I would neglect washing the dishes. I would be sitting with a big piece of chocolate cake and a glass of milk at the kitchen table and would put blinders on in an attempt to block out the mixing bowls piled in the sink.
My Mom somehow would let me bake again! So I would say that I have eaten my fair share of chocolate cakes in my years.  I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but regardless I am definitely a cake snob. 🙂
After much kitchen research, my favorite all-time chocolate cake was born — The Love at First Sight Chocolate Cake. It’s all kinds of chocolate fabulous but sometimes you need an out-of-this-world chocolate cake in cupcake form.
So let me present Chocolate Bombshell Birthday Cupcakes — rich, tender, and fluffy chocolate cake topped with a heavenly chocolate buttercream frosting. This isn’t your average grocery store cupcake! You could even call these Black Velvet Cupcakes because they are everything an amazing chocolate cupcake should be.
For every birthday party I ever had growing up, my request was simple — bring on the chocolate!
TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE HEAVENLY CHOCOLATE BOMBSHELL BIRTHDAY CUPCAKES:
- Cake flour does make a difference in the tender crumb of the cake but you can substitute all-purpose flour.
- High-quality cocoa powder can change the depth of chocolate flavor. I use Callebaut Cocoa (which I find in the bulk section at Winco). Ghirardelli and Trader Joe’s make good ones as well. Always use unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Using both baking soda and baking powder gives it the best rise.
- Buttermilk is a must because it gives it the melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Even though I am the biggest butter fan in the world, oil just works best in chocolate cakes (in my humble opinion). I have used both canola and coconut oils and both turn out beautifully. When I use melted coconut oil, there is surprisingly no coconut oil taste in the cake.
- Don’t overbake your cake. You want that moist, tender crumb so watch it carefully and test it with a cake tester or toothpick.
- When making your chocolate buttercream, you may substitute half and half or whole milk for the cream. Â If you are using whole milk, use a little less as it is thinner than cream.
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Chocolate Bombshell Birthday Cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes:
- 1 3/4 cup Flour
- 1 3/4 cup Sugar
- 3/4 cup Cocoa high quality
- 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 cup Oil canola or coconut oil
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 1 cup Hot Water
Chocolate Buttercream:
- 1 cup Butter softened
- 3/4 cup Cocoa
- 3 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream Half n Half or Whole Milk
- Garnish:
- Chocolate Shavings or Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. If you have a flour sifter, sift all dry ingredients.
- In mixing bowl, beat oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla for 1 minute. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined. Pour in hot water and mix together.
- Lightly spray cupcake liners with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter evenly into each cupcake liner filling 3/4 full. Bake at 18-22 minutes. Place toothpick or cake tester in the center of cupcake to check if it comes out clean.
- Let cool before frosting.
- To make Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- In mixing bowl, cream together butter, cocoa, powdered Sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. You may want to add more cream or milk depending on consistency. Once cake has cooled and has been removed from cupcake pans, top with frosting.
- Top with chocolate shavings, chocolate chips, sprinkles, M & M's or whatever your heart desires.
- This is one baked good that gets even better the next day, if covered.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Happy Baking, my friends! xo
For a highly rated Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting — click HERE.
Are the flour measurements in the actual recipe for cake flour or all purpose flour? I would like to use cake flour, but need to confirm which is used in the actual recipe.
Thank you
Hi, can you tell me how many cupcakes this recipe makes? Will I need 2 12-count baking pans?
These are the BEST cupcakes I’ve ever made! This recipe yields WAAAAAYY more than 20 cupcakes, I’d say 2 dozen and even a 24 tray of mini cupcakes! I think when you add the water, it makes MORE batter so you get a lot more. So most and it’s fluffier than other chocolate cupcakes I’ve tried. If you did half a cup of hot water instead of the full cup, I think you’d have denser cupcakes. Overall, delicious 🙂
Oh my goodness. I’ve died and gone to heaven. These were incredible! Both the cake and the icing are to die for. Thank you!!
I just made these beauties and they are the best chocolate cupcakes that I have ever tasted. I used cake flour and canola oil…perfection! I am practicing icing and cake techniques in hopes of opening my own business one day and came across your page and WOW everything is spot on.
This was my first foray into from-scratch cupcakes and I’m glad I used this recipe because they were awesome. I made two batches, one with coconut oil and one with canola. I love coconut oil but I preferred the canola.
I used Hershey’s cocoa and I can definitely see how a higher end chocolate would be preferred, but they still were a big hit.
I did not use the buttercream recipe, just the cupcakes.
I made these cupcakes for my son’s birthday party last weekend and they are AMAZING!!!
I followed the recipe and used spelt flour and coconut oil. The cake is super moist and the frosting is wonderful. I don’t usually write comments for recipes I find online, but this one is so good that I wanted to say thank you for posting this recipe. It is a recipe I will be making over and over again.
To be fair and honest: I didn’t use cake flour, I used hershey’s cocoa, I didn’t have buttermilk, and I went for coconut oil. I used regular milk with cream of tartar. As the cupcake are right now without any frosting, I say 3 stars, but I did have to make my own modifications so that could be a contributing factor. This recipe was easy and simple, though I wish I had placed the dry ingredients in the smaller bowl. Also the cupcakes currently look more moist than they actually are. All that said, I can’t wait to try them with frosting, and I would definitely make these again but when I have all the required ingredients and some dutch unsweetened cocoa powder. Quality of the chocolate definitely makes a difference. And substitutes (while useful) just aren’t the same. I will definitely rate this recipe when I try it again. And if you’re like me and read the comments first I hope this review is honest enough to help you make a baking decision on whether to make this or wait this out until you have what you need.
These cupcakes are delicious! First time I made them was for my daughters birthday she loved them and now are making more for her graduation open house. I have made several of your recipes and each one has been so good! Thank you for sharing them. I’m looking forward to making many more!
You had me a chocolate! These look SO good!