These cupcakes came out perfect! I have tried several chocolate cake recipes. This one is by far the best I have made. The cake was fluffy and moist. With a good chocolate flavor, but not overly chocolate. A nice light chocolate cupcake. The buttercream I made a tad thinner than usual and it piped just the way I wanted it to. The cake recipe I found on 52 Cupcakes. Its from the Hi-Top Cupcake recipe. And the buttercream recipe came from Cupcake Bakeshop by chockylit. Thanks for the recipes!
Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 12 to 15 cupcakes
INGREDIENTS
CUPCAKES
1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons vinegar
To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a 12-cupcake tin with foil or paper liners and set aside. Sift together the flour, cocoa,
baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a 2-cup measuring cup, measure and mix together the oil, water, and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients into the baking pan and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk. When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls in the batter where the baking soda and the vinegar are reacting. Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Working quickly, distribute the batter into the foil- or paper-lined 12-cupcake tin. If you have leftover batter (depending on how high you fill the liners) you can make a few extra cupcakes by using a few foil liners on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes. Set the cupcakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool in pan, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
*** I only cooked mine for 15 min. I believe I did not fill them as high as the person who wrote the recipe because I ended up with a full 12 and then 5 more in another pan.
Vanilla and Chocolate Buttercream
2 sticks butter
7 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1. beat butter until creamy, scrape bowl
2. add 5 cups of sifted powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, beat until combined
3. add more powdered sugar until you get to the consistency you want (not too stiff so that its hard to pipe)
4. take out half of the buttercream and reserve, this is your vanilla
5. add the cocoa powder to the remaining half and beat to combine, you might need to add a little milk if its too stiff, this is your chocolate buttercream
***I halved this recipe as I didnt need to frost a full 24.
slush 