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.
I’m sorry to say, but I was very disappointed with this recipe. I had a party last weekend and I thought I would give it a try, because cupcakes on this site look so cute and pretty – also, this recipe seemed not only very simple to make, but also economical considering ingredients cost.
I followed the recipe carefully , and the outcome was disastrous. For last 17 I’ve been baking cakes, cupcakes & cookies and the results are sometimes great, sometimes not-so-good, but that’s actually the first time it turned out literally inedible (4 of 5 people who tried the cupcakes declared them inedible, one said they were only very bad, but tolerable). They looked OK, the texture was also good, but the taste was awful.
Fortunately I had enough time and enough cupcake liners to bake few more batches and I made some using my trusty chocolate cake recipe (combination of recipes by my grandpa and by Nigella), so the party was saved.
Still, I’m really shocked that recipe from such good site can turn out so bad.
Greate pieces. Keep writing such kind of information on
your page. Im really impressed by your blog.
Hey there, You’ve performed an excellent job. I will definitely digg it and for my part recommend to my friends. I’m
sure they will be benefited from this website.
Wonderful cakes, I am baking these tomorrow!
May I ask how you get such perfect, flat topped cupcakes please?
Thank you!x
Hi, I made these cupcakes for a party and they were a hit! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I was wondering, to make an 8″ inch cake (my cake pan is 3″ high), will this recipe be enough?
Thank you!
I, too, discovered this recipe on the hershey coca box. Incredibly moist! It’s the oil that does it. Love the rose.
Perfection! Just whipped up a batch and they all turned out perfectly – moist, chocolate-y, not too sweet – with just the slightest dome tops. Thank you!
Just wanted to say a big thank you for sharing this recipe. I made these cupcakes with Ghirardelli’s cocoa and they were an absolute hit!! 🙂
Hello! I would just like to say that these cupcakes were excellent! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us! 🙂
Hi Glory! These look absolutely fantastic, just wondering if these would work with a flax seed egg replacer? I need to bake this cake for my vegan aunt. Thanks!
Hi Glory! I have made and LOVED these cupcakes and I was wondering how you could alter the recipe so you could make it fit a 9 inch round cake pan. These cupcakes are phenomenal!