My Go-To Chocolate Cupcakes

Two years ago, when I was just beginning my cupcake baking days, I wasted an sinful amount of butter and sugar in search of the best chocolate cake recipe.  I still remember squealing with delight when I pulled these out of the oven for the first time and seeing their smooth, slightly domed, perfect tops (if there's one thing I hate, it's a messy, sunken cupcake). I don't think I even waited for them to cool before tearing one apart to find a soft, light texture, and my favorite trait of these beauties is that they don't crumble to pieces when you take a bite (if there's another thing I hate, it's wearing my cupcake). I think I wiped the inevitable batter off my phone immediately, that day, to call Mum who had given me the recipe originally and declared that "oh my god, this is the perfect cupcake".  My opinion of this recipe has only increased in the 20-odd times I've made it since - it has never failed me. 

Oh yeah, and they taste rich and delicious too.

This isn't the most glamorously decorated example, and frankly that's because when someone requests just "chocolate cupcakes", I believe that they will be happiest with the cake being the star. I've also topped these with more elaborate frosting and decorations, which have been superbly received as well. In this case, I frosted them with a modest amount of basic chocolate buttercream.

If you're looking to add a filling, these are probably not the cupcakes to choose - I think they are slightly too dense (but in a good way! I promise)

I've been using the same original printout for two years, but for fear of losing it, or covering it so severely in ingredients that it becomes illegible, I tracked down the online source today.
Side note: I have made the Brown Sugar Buttercream that is included with the recipe online, and I'm disappointed to say that it was extremely underwhelming. I definitely don't recommend it.

Devil's Food Cake
Source: Epicurious.com - originally from Gourmet Magazine
Yield 24-28 cupcakes or 2 9" rounds

INGREDIENTS
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth, then mix in vanilla and milk.

3. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda in another bowl.

4. Beat together butter and sugars in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until pale and fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in flour and cocoa mixtures alternatively in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

5. Divide batter among cupcake pans (a large cookie scoop works well for this), and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until tops of cakes spring back when touched lightly.

Cake can be made several days ahead and stored in airtight container.  Freezes well.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

If there's one thing you can take away from this post, it's that you should not tell your hungry male audience that you are in possession of this recipe until you are prepared to actually make it.  I told a few friends that I had a recipe for Car Bomb Cupcakes approximately a year ago, and have heard virtually nothing but demands and begging ever since.  Finally, a fall gathering last weekend was the perfect opportunity to end the madness.

Having never tasted the drink, I cannot say if these taste anything like it.  The Guinness taste does not specifically come through in the cake, but enhances the chocolate flavor (and makes my kitchen smell especially delightful). They were pretty much exactly what I expected, and I doubt I'll make them again unless specifically requested - they're not exactly universally appealing.  I would recommend heating the cupcake in the microwave for a few seconds if you'd like the filling warm and gooey. It's delightful.

IRISH CAR BOMB CUPCAKES
Source: Annie's Eats

Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 cup Guinness
16 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake pans with liners.

Combine Guinness and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  When butter is melted, add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream.  Add the butter/stout mixture, and beat until just incorporated.  On low speed, add the dry ingredients until combined.  Divide evenly between cupcake liners and bake until cupcake tops spring back when touched lightly - about 18 minutes.

Bailey's Ganache
Ingredients:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup heavy cup
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. Bailey's Irish Cream

Heat the heavy cream until simmering, then pour over chocolate in a heat proof bowl.  Let sit for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth.  Add butter and Bailey's and stir to combine.  Ganache will thicken as it cools.

To fill cupcakes, cut out a small cone from the center of each cupcake and pipe ganache into the center.

Bailey's Buttercream
Ingredients:
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
3-4 cups powdered sugar
4-8 tbsp. Bailey's Irish Cream

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add powdered sugar and Bailey's until frosting reaches desired consistency.  (If frosting is too thick, add milk gradually).