The Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake: Mission Complete

This is it baby.



It took one year, seven rounds, fifty+ Official Cupcake Explorers who at long last found one chocolate winner.

Let’s start at the beginning. Last June I was chosen to participate in the quest for the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake for the incredibly creative blog The Cupcake Project. I wrote up a little blurb as to why I should be chosen. It went along the lines of I have a blog, I’m a baker, I’ve made the Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake, blah blah blah. Anywho, my wit and words won me a prized spot in this little venture. (And you should have seen the celebration. Bouncing-in-my-seat, hands-in-the-air ecstatic. Luckily, in the privacy of my own home).

And so the quest began. All seven rounds, as it turned out. The goal was a 60 percent vote by Explorers to agree that Yes! This is the Ultimate! Now I won’t lie, I did vote rounds 2 and 6 as winners, and every round had its pros (nicely domed, easy to follow recipe, wonderfully sweet) and cons (ugly appearance, too dense, somewhat dry), but all that turned around when I received Round 7’s recipe in an email mid-May.

Perfect everything. Perfect appearance, perfect crumb, perfect density, perfect texture, perfect chocolate flavor, perfect sweetness; ultimately perfect!

And so, without further ado, I give you…

The Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake!!




See Stef’s Blog, The Cupcake Project, for more reviews about the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake!



The Ultimate Chocolate Cupcake

Makes 12 cupcakes

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 ounces of your favorite chocolate (you can use any plain chocolate that you like except white chocolate or candy melts. The chocolate doesn't have to be one typically earmarked for baking- any chocolate that isn't flavored and doesn't contain mix-ins like nuts, krispies, nougat, etc. will work.)
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil, measured in a liquid measuring cup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup full-fat sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup room temperature water, measured in a liquid measuring cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium-sized mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix butter and sugar until fully combined. The end result should look like wet sand.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Once the melted chocolate is cool enough to touch, add it to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until just combined. Mix in eggs and egg yolks one at a time until just combined. Mix in oil, vanilla, and sour cream until just combined.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a separate medium-sized bowl. Use a fork or a whisk to ensure that the ingredients are mixed well after sifting. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in three additions, mixing until just combined after each addition. Mix in water until just combined.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and put in the oven. Check for doneness at 18 minutes - a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake should come out clean. If they are not done, check again every two minutes until they are done. (Mine took 20 minutes!)

Immediately remove cupcakes from the cupcake tin and place on a cooling rack or on the counter to cool to room temperature.

[If you would like to add coffee to the recipe, either add 1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee granules along with the sifted dry ingredients, or replace the water with room temperature brewed coffee.]

Adapted from The Cupcake Project.

Maple Blueberry Pancake Cupcakes

This is overdue.

The blog has been on the back-burner to say the least.  You see, I've found a show.  Yes, after months of mourning that Desperate Housewives is officially off the air, running approximately three seasons behind in Grey's Anatomy (I'm sorry, I just can't watch the sixty episodes I've missed, so no more Grey's for me), and waiting out the current lull between Bachelor seasons, nothing has really intrigued me.  I've seen the occasional episode of Bing Bang Theory (I'm confused as to why this is funny), vaguely got into the new Matthew Perry show Go On (which is now being cancelled), and as much as I don't care for Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men just isn't the same.  So now my life pretty much consists of Friends reruns.

Sad life.

Until...The Walking Dead.  We've been running it in this house almost non-stop for the last week.  Started with season one and I'm officially sucked in.  So that's what I've been doing.  Watching zombies eat people, and it's been lovely.  But I thought I'd share a little somethin' somethin' with ya today.  A pancake morphed into cupcake! (like a human morphed into a walker! - i've got zombies on the brain).

I've spruced things up with a little maple extract and a dose of berries but you can leave both out or mix things up however you please (coconut extract and mini chocolate chips sounds divine).  However, let me warn you:  these are not your typical sweet, sugar-infused cupcake.  It is pancake batter in muffin form, therefore very little sugar is in the cake itself so...you MUST top with maple syrup.  And it must be warm, says me.  I like to have a little bowl of hot syrup on the side and dunk each bite in sugary goodness.  Oh yes, pancakes for a snack.  I could get used to this.

Maple Blueberry Pancake Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

2 teaspoons maple extract

1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with liners and then spray the liners with non-stick spray (important step! cakes will stick to the liners otherwise!).

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl; set aside. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the milk and eggs, then stir in the melted and cooled butter and maple extract. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and whisk together until just moistened and combined. Like pancakes, lumps are okay!  Fold in the blueberries.

Divide the batter between the muffin cups and bake until puffed and firm to the touch, about 12-14 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.  Serve with warmed maple syrup!

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker.

Chocolate Lucky Charms Green Velvet Cupcakes

Yup.  I did it again.



I didn't plan on celebrating saint patty's day.  No green beer (maybe someday...).  No corned beef and cabbage (maybe...never!!!).  My extent of acknowledging the holiday will include wearing a stripey pair of "Kiss Me I'm Irish" socks (thanks Target) and a green "Kiss Me I'm Mexican" tee (thanks Chuy's).  But as I was reaching into the pantry the other night, I noticed a box of chocolate lucky charms staring at me.  Insert: light bulb!

The structure of my chocolate version follows the same method as the vanilla: lucky charms crust; green-tinted, cereal-dotted batter; icing and marshmallow pieces.  But this time, we chocolate-ey it up, hence green velvet. 

Now I'm going to be honest with you, while the vanilla version knocked my socks off on each and every layer last year, this alternative resulted in a little disappointment.  Cereal crust was good, icing was awesome, but the layer inbetween- the actual cake itself- was a bit of a flop.  I used the red velvet cupcake recipe in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes cookbook (subbing green food coloring for red, of course) and wish I had done more research, which would have made this super cute, super festive cupcake taste super yummy.  But regardless of my unlucky end product, I wanted to share with you these lucky-themed treats, and encourage you to use this cake recipe instead.  Or this one or this one or this one.  Good luck!!

Chocolate Lucky Charms Green Velvet Cupcakes

Makes 18 cupcakes

For the Crust:

3 cups crushed Lucky Charms (a mini food processor works well for this)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

For the Cupcakes:

A recipe will 12 cupcakes will suffice to give you roughly 18, as the crust will take up some of the cupcake liner

Red velvet cupcake recipe of your choice

Green food coloring

1 cup Lucky Charms cereal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix together crushed Lucky Charms and melted butter.  Divide mixture evenly between ten cupcake liners.  Pack it firmly into the bottoms of the liners.  Bake for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, prepare velvet cake recipe, subbing in green food coloring for the red.  Fold 1 cup Lucky Charms into batter.   Spoon cupcake batter over pre-baked crusts.  The batter should come almost to the way to the top of the liners (the crust prevents the batter from rising very much!)

Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  If they are not done, test again in two minutes.  When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack to cool completely before icing.

Top with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting and Lucky Charms Marshmallows. 

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting:

This makes quite a bit of frosting but leftovers can easily be stored in the fridge.

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sour cream
6 cups powdered sugar

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave-safe bowl in 30 second intervals until combined and smooth.

Place sour cream in large mixer bowl.  Pour in chocolate mixture and beat at medium speed until blended.  Add in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition until desired consistency is reached.  Spread over cupcakes.

Adapted from my Lucky Charms Cupcakes via The Cupcake Project. 

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Pie Frosting

I'm a genius.

Let's reminisce.  So remember how I mentioned that chocolate and pumpkin are basically a match made in heaven?  And remember how my parents came into town last weekend for a visit?  Well my mom knows me well because she brought me a gift: some cupcake liners (it's the little things).  This prompted a mission: What can I do with these adorable liners before Halloween escapes me and turkeys and Christmas trees are in full swing? 

Hmmmm....

I must preface what I'm about to tell you by saying that I am a FROM SCRATCH baker.  Meaning I don't really do the whole box cake mix thing [which is odd because #1: I currently have 5 (yes FIVE, no lie) boxes of cake mix on my baking shelf in the pantry because for some reason I have this weird obsession with buying anything that I feel will be the base of some new and fabulous creation.  And because I have the Cake Doctor cookbook which has some pretty fabulous ideas.  And because, quite frankly, it's cheap.  And #2: I basically ate my weight in pillsbury confetti cake the summer of my senior year in college.  (what can I say- it made the perfect late night after the bar food- seriously people).  I need to create a from-scratch version of this sprinkle-filled cake.  Consider it added to The List.]

Ok, so in short, yes.  This is a cake using The Box.  Some of you may be happy to hear this, some of you may not.  But let me inform you that this is the recipe of my favorite chocolate cake recipe EVER.  And I'm a white cake person at heart; however, for some crazy reason this cake recipe is SOOO good that I actually ask my sister to make it for me in bundt cake form for my birthday every year (p.s. this is her recipe so give her a big fat thanks).  Not white cake, not confetti cake, not cookie cake- I want chocolate cake.  From a box.  It's that good. 

And chocolate cake topped with pumpkin pie?  Well, does this really sound like a bad idea to you?  I didn't think so.  Like I said...I'm a genius.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Pie Frosting

For the cake:

Makes 26 cupcakes (or fills one bundt pan)

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix

1 (3.4 ounce) box sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix (regular is fine too)

1 (3.4 ounce) box sugar-free instant white chocolate pudding mix (regular is fine too)

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup applesauce

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Blend cake mix and puddings until combined.  Add in eggs, water and applesauce and mix until moistened (at medium speed for 2 minutes).  Fold in chocolate chips.   

Divide batter into 26 prepared cupcake tins.  Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely before topping with Pumpkin Pie Frosting.

**For a bundt pan, bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

For the frosting:

This is basically pumpkin pie without the crust so if you already happen to have a pumpkin pie on hand, you can either scoop the pie filling out of the crust or blend the crust into the frosting.

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin (pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat eggs.  Stir in sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.  Mix in pumpkin.  Stir in evaporated milk. 

Pour into lightly greased 9-inch pie plate (no crust needed).  Bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out dry.  Remove from oven and leave on counter for two hours before use.

**The pie will pipe better if you put it in a large mixing bowl and beat it for about thirty seconds to evenly distribute any moisture before loading it into your pastry bag.  

Cake Adapted from my sister, Melissa.
Frosting Adapted from Cupcake Project.

S'mores Cupcakes

Betcha didn't know today's a holiday.

A verrrrrrry important holiday.

It's National S'mores Day!!

Ever wonder how s'mores got their name?  Well I wondered so I searched (ahh lovely google).

Apparently they were first mentioned in the Girl Scout Handbook in 1927 after a camping trip full of girls gathered around the campfire caused someone to yell "gimme some more!"  Those girl scouts are smarties.  But can we really blame them?  S'mores are simply wonderful.  And new twists are being created with the graham/chocolate/marshmallow combination constantly, turning it into bars, cookies, cakes, pies- you name it!

So today I bring you s'mores in cupcake form, because a celebration wouldn't be complete without cake.  Loaded with graham crumbs, chocolate chips, and gooey toasted mini mallows, it's the perfect cake replica of the campfire treat!

S'mores Cupcakes

Makes 11 cupcakes

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 

1/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

1 cup miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 325.  Line 11 cupcake cups with paper liners.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a spoon.

In another large bowl, cream brown sugar and shortening with an electric mixer.  Add egg and egg yolk and mix well.  Blend in milk.  Gradually add graham mixture and mix until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and marshmallows.  Divide batter into prepared cupcake pans.  Bake for 20 minutes or until set.

 Adapted from Group Recipes.

Trying My Luck with Lucky Charms Cupcakes

"Multi-Layer Perfection"-- that's at least how people are describing these adorable, tasty holiday treats! 

After Nathan came home from work one day last week, he mentioned that there would be a contest the Friday before St. Patrick's day featuring green goodies from the kitchen.  I immediately chose to meet that challenge and became determined to win this little office competition.  My weapon of choice: Lucky Charms Cupcakes! 

Wow.  Not only are these absolutely adorable, they are absolutely delicious!  Start with a lucky charms crust, pour on a vanilla cupcake batter mixed with more cereal, then top with frosting and marshmallow pieces.  How much more fun can a cupcake get?  And to follow the rules of the game, I tossed some green food coloring into the mix!

I found the recipe on Stef's blog, Cupcake Project, and chose to use her Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake recipe as the batter.  They turned out moist and flavorful and I am tucking that recipe away as a keeper for all future vanilla-flavored cupcakes!!  In addition, it does call for cake flour, which I do not have, but you can make your own simply by combining 2 tablespoons cornstarch with 1 cup all-purpose flour; therefore, I have written my version below.  Hope you enjoy these as much as we (and Nathan's office) did!

Here's the full "review" I got in an email from a co-worker.  I was pretty pleased:

"Holy cow Nathan, you need to advertise those babies better.

The adorable little decorations on the top are only the start.

That cupcake was multi layer perfection.

Was that a Lucky Charm crust at the bottom? Really cute and tasty.

Tell Chelsea I really enjoyed her treats."

Lucky Charms Cupcakes

Makes 18 cupcakes

For the Crust:

3 cups crushed Lucky Charms (a mini food processor works well for this)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

The Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake Recipe (+Lucky Charms):
1 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk
1 cup Lucky Charms cereal
Green food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small bowl, mix together crushed Lucky Charms and melted butter.  Divide mixture evenly between ten cupcake liners.  Pack it firmly into the bottoms of the liners.  Bake for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine sugar and seeds from the vanilla bean or vanilla extract.  Using the back of a spoon, move around the bowl and apply pressure to break up any clumps of seeds and to better infuse the vanilla flavor into the sugar. Set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add the vanilla bean sugar and mix until well combined.
Add butter and mix on medium-low speed for three minutes.  Because there is so little butter, you'll end up with a very fine crumb texture.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.  Slowly add milk and mix on low speed until just combined.  Blend in food coloring.  Fold in Lucky Charms.  Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes and then test to see if they are done. They are done when a toothpick comes out without wet batter stuck to it.  The cupcakes should appear white with specks of vanilla bean. They should not turn a golden brown.  If they are not done, test again in two minutes.  If they are still not done, test again in another two minutes.  When the cupcakes are done, remove them immediately from the tins and leave them on a cooling rack (or just on your counter if you don't own a cooling rack) to cool.

Top with vanilla frosting and Lucky Charms marshmallows.

**Note:  Put the marshmallows on shortly before serving as they tend to get wet and soggy after a few hours.

Adapted from Cupcake Project.