Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes
Author: 
Serves: 14
 
Ingredients
  • 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)
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 170°C (338F) on the regular bake setting - NOT convection or fan-forced.
  2. Line a cupcake/muffin tin with cupcake liners.
  3. In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, add in the sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs.
  4. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the same mixing bowl.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Switch on your kettle at this point for the boiling water.
  8. 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.
  9. Pour the ½ cup boiling water into the batter.
  10. 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.
  11. Remove the mixing bowl from the machine and stir the batter thoroughly with a metal spoon till you have an even and smooth consistency.
  12. Divide the batter evenly between 14 lined cupcake holes.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. Read below for decorating instructions with chocolate ganache.
Recipe by Philosophy Of Yum Blog at https://philosophyofyum.com/chocolate-cupcakes/