Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes – Secret Recipe!
Sharing my Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe with you this week seemed quite fitting because it is (or actually was) Philosophy of Yum Blog’s 1-year Birthday!! Yayyyy! 😀
I wanted to share a super special recipe on this special occasion and also to just thank you for your support over the last year. It means so much to me.
Many of you have asked me why I don’t share my bakery’s “claim to fame” recipes like Double Chocolate Brownies, German Apple Cake or Dark Chocolate cake.
The simple reason behind this is that my home bakery (Philosophy of Yum) is by FAR my main source of income. These recipes are my bread and butter so sharing them with the world is still a little bit risky at this point.
This week however, I’m making an exception because of my blog’s birthday 😀 So I am sharing with you my top-secret recipe for Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes!
Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe Development
Chocolate Cupcakes are really just one of those classic and sacred baked goods that ring nostalgic notes for ALL of us. They were and are always present at every kid’s birthday party, every bake sale, every church bazaar, every bakery and every grocery store.
I’ve probably tried out about 15 different recipes for chocolate cupcakes in my life. You know me by now. If cake doesn’t melt me with its powers of YUM, then I’ll stop eating it. Why waste the calories? I tried recipe after recipe.
Often tweaking a recipe 3 times before finally moving on to the next one. It became my mission for many years to finally find THE ONE!
I’ve found that butter based recipes are just not ideal for any kind of chocolate cake. Oil locks in a great deal more moisture!
The method is also absolutely critical. Once a hot liquid is added, you really want to keep the mixing low and slow.
The chocolate cupcakes recipe I was finally and fully pleased with ended up being a combination of a few plus some added tweaks I made on the spur of the moment. It worked perfectly and I am so grateful!
The base recipe was from Homemade by Holman. One huge perk about this recipe is that you can mix it in one bowl from start to finish which means less dishes – yes please!
Recipe Introduction
The texture of these chocolate cupcakes is very moist, soft and creamy. And the flavour is SUPER chocolatey! The smooth chocolate ganache and slightly tangy chocolate frosting round off an indulgent texture and flavour experience.
The chocolate frosting recipe I shared in my previous post here. You can also make your own fancy Dark Chocolate shavings like I did! I posted a whole step by step tutorial here. I didn’t think I would share one of my best recipes this soon, but here it is…
My top-secret Philosophy of Yum recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes!
- 240 g Granulated White Sugar
- 190 g Cake Flour
- 50 g Cocoa Powder, best quality you can find
- ⅓ tsp Baking Powder
- ¾ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 55 g Egg (out of shell)
- 115 g Milk (4-5% Fat)
- 125 g Canola Oil
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Water (just boiled)
- FOR GANACHE: 100 g Cream (about 35% fat content)
- FOR GANACHE: 100 g Dark Chocolate (at least 65% cocoa solids)
- Preheat your oven to 170°C (338F) on the regular bake setting - NOT convection or fan-forced.
- Line a cupcake/muffin tin with cupcake liners.
- In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add in the sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the same mixing bowl.
- Warm the milk in the microwave for 20 seconds to bring it more or less to room temperature. Add it to the mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
- Beat all the ingredients together with the paddle attachment on a low speed for 20 seconds to roughly combine. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.
- Switch on your kettle at this point for the boiling water.
- Beat the batter once more on medium high speed for 2 minutes. The batter will be very stiff! As the sugar dissolves, it will become a bit looser.
- Pour the ½ cup boiling water into the batter.
- Mix in light pulses on super low speed to stop the boiling liquid from splashing everywhere. After a few light turns it should be safe to turn up the speed to a steady low. Mix until liquid is no longer separate.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the machine and stir the batter thoroughly with a metal spoon till you have an even and smooth consistency.
- Divide the batter evenly between 14 lined cupcake holes.
- Make sure your oven has two oven racks inside. One rack should be in the top half of your oven, and one in the bottom half of your oven so that your oven cavity is basically divided into 3 equal spaces. Place an empty muffin tin, roasting tray or any other baking tin on the top rack. Place your cupcakes on the lower rack.
- Pour about ½ cup water into the bottom of your oven to create some steam. If your oven has an element right on the bottom or if you have a gas oven, pour 1 cup of water into the baking tin on the top rack in your oven.
- Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, turning after 8 minutes. Test with a skewer to see if the cupcakes are cooked. Ideally there should be a few moist crumbs sticking to the skewer… Remember, they will continue to cook for a minute or two more after you remove them from the oven.
- Read below for decorating instructions with chocolate ganache.
Decorating the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes:
I love the combination of chocolate ganache and frosting! The chocolate frosting I used here is my signature ultimate chocolate frosting I use in my bakery every day. It’s the tastiest frosting in the whole world!
Place a round tip nozzle in your piping bag and fill with the ultimate chocolate frosting. Hold the piping bag directly over the top of the cupcake (about 2 cm away from the surface) and squeeze out the frosting while keeping the bag stationary.
Once you are satisfied with the AMOUNT of frosting, stop. Use a teaspoon to flatten out the surface and spread the frosting more to the edges.
Place the frosted cupcakes in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before you make the chocolate ganache.
To make the ganache, simply heat the cream till it starts to simmer and add it to the chopped dark chocolate. Allow it to stand for 5 minutes and stir till smooth & dreamy.
Just spoon the semi-runny ganache over the frosting and work it around the top till you are happy with the look. Do not dunk the frosted cupcakes in the ganache! This frosting is a lot softer than traditional frosting and it will probably fall off.
Finally, I topped my ultimate chocolate cupcakes with some beautiful dark chocolate shavings. Click here to see how to make your own!
I really hope you make these yourself at home! They are just DIVINE. If you give this recipe a go, tag me on facebook, twitter or instagram #philosophyofyum because I would LOVE to see!
Chat soon!
Aurelia 🙂
My secret weapon for flat, moist cakes – no more domes to trim off! TOTAL Game changer! 😀
Got a question? Something to add? Let’s chat in the comments section down below! (I respond to every single comment)
Hello Aurelia! I have tried this a couple of times and they are fabulous, so so moist. However I don’t know how to measure 1/3 baking powder, my set of measuring spoons have the 1/4 as the smallest. Onced I used 1 and 1/2 tsp and later I used 1/4 , both time they turned out just fine but I would like to follow the recipe as it is next time.
Hey Laura! I know those tiny measurements are a pain yes! I usually eyeball it – a scant 1/2 tsp works great for me 🙂 But I’m glad to hear your cupcakes turned out great both times!
Hi! I am going to try your recipe fingers crossed (I have failed a few times with others) I am a bit confused with the baking instructions – to clarify if I bake the cupcakes at the lowest tray , how do I put water at the bottom tray ? Or is it to bake the cupcakes on the middle section ?
Hey Jayne, thanks for reaching out! Ideally you want to put the water in the bottom of your oven. But if that’s impossible, you can just put the water in the empty pan above the cupcakes.
Hello! Can you please let me know what oven setting this is, Bake, Fan Bake or Fan Forced :’)
I can never find out which when I’m looking at recipes.
Hey Kelsey! I’m so sorry, I usually make a point of including this in my recipes because it’s super important! With ALLLL my recipes, always use the regular bake setting – NOT convection or fan-forced.
Thank you Aurelia! Appreciate you getting back to me so quickly 🙂
Can I make chocolate layer cake with this recipe please?
Yes you can Mia!
Hi Aurelia. I am recently GF and sugar free. I have been trying out various recipes and substituting the flours and sugars – most times they fail. These turned out amazing! Would definitely make into a later cake next time! Thank you!
That’s great to hear Kash! Way to go! 😀
vraiment tres bon ! thank for the recipe 😀
You’re welcome Lily! 🙂
Can’t wait to try out this recipe! Just one question, do you use dutched cocoa powder or regular?
Hey Sandy, that’s awesome! Can’t wait for you to try the recipe 🙂 Use Dutch processed – richer colour AND richer chocolate flavour!
Hi Aurelia! Your recipe is amazing! I have a question, the recipe says 1/3 tsp baking powder. How do you measure that 1/3? Maybe a quite full 1/4 tsp?
Hey Karolina! I usually add a compacted and domed 1/4 tsp 🙂
A ok, i got it! Thank you so much! I made them a few days ago, they still remain moist, which is super! And on their own (no frosting or anything) they are delicious!
You are such an inspiration Aurelia for someone like me who is the process of starting a home baking business!The question is what brand of chocolate would you suggest to use not only in cupcakes in general baking ?Thank you for your generously kind heart sharing all these to us !
Thanks for your sweet comment Angelina! So glad to hear my content has been helpful to you as you’re starting your home baking business 🙂 Every country doesn’t have the same chocolate brands available, so unfortunately I don’t have a “one size fits all” tip for which chocolate you should use. I recommend that you search on Google for local chocolateries (that’s what I did). Supporting your local businesses is always a great idea and more often than not you’ll get a higher quality product.
Hi, Your recipe states 14 cupcakes, but the muffin tins can make 12 at a time. Do you divide the batter by 12 and leave some for allowance?
Hi Joy! I bought a 6 hole cupcake tin that I fill up with the remaining batter. Definitely worth investing in one – really comes in handy!
Ah.. I’ve got a 6 hole muffin tins. But my 12-hole muffin tins are mini muffins.. time to be shopping for 12-hole standard size but seemed like in my country, it comes in 6-hole standard size.. thanks for the reply!
Hi Aurelia, cant wait to try this recipe; Just a small clarification, whats thfunction of the empty roasting pan on the top rack?
Hi Dania, thanks for asking! It’s there as a buffer so your cupcakes bake faster from the bottom and slower from the top, giving you a beautifully even rise. This isn’t a rule for ALL cupcake recipes, but works very well with Chocolate and Red Velvet Cupcakes in particular.
Great tip! Thank you 🙂
What if my oven doesn’t have another rack? Just one. Can i put it next to my cupcake tin? Or should i just skip this step? (I don’t want to tho)
I am in love with your chocolate shavings! Sadly, the link above is broken…can you provide a new link, please?
Hi Shannah! I’m so sorry about that – thank you for pointing it out to me! I’ve fixed the links 🙂
Thank you so much–just checked back and it’s a great article (as usual)! Can’t wait to try my hand at it!
Thank you Shannah! Let me know how they turn out 😀
I’m new to your blog and recently joined, but I’m from the states, do you have US conversions for your recipes or a site recommendation that I could utilize. Thanks Tori from Pennsylvania
Hi Tori! Thanks for your comment 🙂 I specifically list all ingredients in grams so that they are easy to weigh out. Just switch your scale to grams and you’re good to go!
They look amazing and I know they taste likewise! Well done my girl. xxx
Thanks Mama!