Dark Chocolate Cupcakes. Beat in vanilla and egg until blended. Special Dark Chocolate Cupcakes-a moist delicate crumb with a rich dark chocolate flavor! I shared with you the most incredible White Buttercream Frosting the other day.

The schools are black and gold. I wanted these chocolate cupcakes to be as dark as possible. "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake. Indulge your dark side with this doubly decadent HERSHEY'S Dark Chocolate Cake recipe topped with "especially dark" chocolate frosting. You can have Dark Chocolate Cupcakes using 12 ingredients and 8 steps. Here is how you achieve it.

Ingredients of Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

It's 2 2/3 cup of All purpose flour.
Prepare 1 cup of Natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
You need 1 1/2 tsp of Baking soda.
You need 1/2 tsp of Salt (omit if using salted butter).
It's 113 grams of Butter, room temperature.
Prepare 1/2 cup of Oil.
You need 2 cup of White sugar.
It's 4 of Eggs, room temperature.
Prepare 2 tsp of Vanilla extract.
It's 1 cup of Milk (I used soured creamline milk, but buttermilk works as well or sour cream/milk or milk with 1/4tsp lemon juice or vinegar).
Prepare 1 cup of Hot water.
Prepare 1 tsp of Instant coffee granules.

Bake in a cake pan for a full- size chocolate cake, or divide the batter up in a muffin tin for a cupcake variation. The dark chocolate cupcakes themselves are made with my favorite dark chocolate cocoa powder (or you can use regular unsweetened cocoa powder). And they are really easy to make, nice and moist, and full of rich chocolate flavor. To make the cupcakes, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes instructions

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Prepare the muffin pans accordingly..
In a separate bowl, add the flour, soda, salt, and cocoa and mix well with a whisk..
Cream softened butter with sugar. The mixture won't quite come together like normal but once your done, it should look something similar to clumpy wet sand (exactly what you want to think of when you make cupcakes)..
Add the eggs and oil to the butter mixture, making sure to mix thoroughly and scraping the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla..
Alternate dry ingredients and milk to the butter mixture, only mixing until just combined. You should start and end with the flour..
In a separate cup, dissolve the coffee in the hot water. Add it to the batter, mixing on low speed until just combined. If you want a mellower chocolate taste, the coffee can be omitted or you can play around with the amounts. Just be careful about adding more as it can make the cupcakes bitter..
Scoop into cups and bake for 15 min. If they need more time, drop the oven temperature to 350F/180C. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs. As opposed to some other cupcakes, these are a bit more forgiving if over baked..
Let cool on a wire rack and then top accordingly. Pictured are chocolate cupcakes with raspberry purée inside and topped with a ganache. I also made a creamy peanut butter buttercream..

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, and white sugar. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let the cupcakes cool completely. Meanwhile, make the dark chocolate frosting: Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over but not touching barely simmering water. This tender, dark chocolate cupcake recipe is incredibly soft and rich without being overly sweet. Chocolate meringue buttercream frosting keeps the topping light and fluffy.