I love chocolate…
So naturally, when I started experimenting with baking cupcakes from scratch (several years ago) I began a quest for the perfect chocolate cupcakes. I worked through several dozen recipes and of course, didn’t have too much trouble finding people willing to eat my “experiments.”
I finally found a recipe titled Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake, hmm, “…Perfectly Chocolate”, sounds about right to me! The first time I made it, I used Hershey’s unsweeted cocoa (as the recipe calls for). They turned out pretty good. The next time I made them, I used Ghirardelli brand unsweetened cocoa, and… perfect! The Ghirardelli brand gave a much deeper chocolate flavor. So I’d highly recomend using either Ghirardelli brand unsweetened cocoa, or the best quality brand you can find. You can really taste the difference. Since discovering this recipe, I’ve made it dozens and dozens of times. And every time, it’s delicious! The cake has a nice light and fluffy texture and a rich chocolate flavor.
Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes
(makes 24-27 standard sized cupcakes)
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)
1 cup boiling water
Directions-
Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350*F.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.
Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don’t worry, this is right).
Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)
Bake cupcakes for aproximately 18-22 minutes.
Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.
Recipe source- Hershey’s
Try the recipe HERE for either vanilla or chocolate (my favorite!) cream cheese frosting.
Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
Perfectly Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa best quality available
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract best quality available
- 1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Line muffin tin with paper liners. Heat oven to 350*F.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for one minute.
- Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don’t worry, this is right).
- Fill liners 2/3 full with batter. (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)
- Bake cupcakes for approximately 18-22 minutes.
- Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.
Question- Do you measure the boiled water before you boil it, or after? Because I feel like if you did before, it would evaporate? Thanks!
I made these tonight with my little ones and they were absolutely wonderful!! We made the chocolate cream cheese frosting and it just topped them off. The perfect amount of sweetness. Wonderful recipe!! Thanks for sharing it, I will definitely keep this as my "go to" for chocolate cupcakes 🙂
Maria
What could I add or substitute in this recipe to make them chocolate orange cupcakes? 🙂
I made these today and used grape seed oil instead of olive or vegetable oil WOW are they light and fluffy and the grape seed oil didn't leave any flavoring in it at all!
@Annonymous- It sounds like you might just need to bake them a few minutes longer. I've made this recipe (with the water) hundreds of times with great success. Feel free to make any adjustments you want to try, but I can assure you, the recipe should work well as is (unless by chance you're at very high elevation).
Just tried this recipe, I was so excited because I thought I'd finally got it right! They were very gooey and almost not cooked inside, is it necessary to add the boiling water? the batter looked perfect until I added the water, there was way too much liquid! Will definitely try this recipe again though.
… best chocolate cupcakes I've ever made. Will never use any other recipe again. Combined with your frosting tips and recipe, the cupcakes were a huge hit! Thanks!
Hi…your recipes and directions on how to frost cupcakes were very helpful and informative. I just wanted to know how you made the butterflies and flowers with imprints on your cupcakes, and what did you use?
These look delicious!! I am wondering if I use 2% milk instead of whole milk will it make a big difference?
@Angie- Yes, sorry but at high altitude you will certainly need to make adjustments! I would suggest a google serch to help you find some suggested adjustments for baking at high altitude. Best of luck!