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 tried the recipe and found the cupcakes very chewy. As they cooled, the cupcakes fell. They did not stay fluffy. I will continue to look for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe. The flavor was good, but the texture wasn’t cake-y in any way.
So sorry you didn’t have success with this recipe. If the cupcakes fell as they cooled, it’s likely they were a little under-baked.
Tried baking this recipe yesterday, and it turns out so moist and very delicious.
My friends liked my cupcakes and I am so flattered.
Great recipe indeed!
Hi there- I’m a big fan of your recipes, thank you so much for sharing these!
I wanted to ask you if you “fan bake” or just bake regularly in the oven? I can never get my cupcakes to stay flat. They always dome making them harder to decorate.
Any advice would be welcome!
Thank you!
Hi Glory,
I love your site! I want to try this recipe soon however the cocoa powder I have is dutch processed. Would that affect the result seeing as there is baking soda in the recipe? Hope you to get a reply from you. Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I used it along with your vanilla cupcake and cream cheese buttercream to make cupcakes for a graduation party. They were a huge hit! I will be trying other recipes from you!
I made these yesterday and they were absolutely terrific!! 2 thumbs up withhout a doubt 🙂
I have used this recipe for cupcakes many times and it’s always a huge hit! Now, I will be using this for a cake instead. Can you tell me if this will be ok for carving? I will try to make a camera cake and was wondering if this recipe will be ok and also under fondant.
Thank you in advance!
Hi Glory! Thank you. The 12 cupcakes were a success. 🙂 This might be a bit of a stretch but I was wondering if you’ve ever tried scaling the recipe down to 4 or 6 cupcakes. Some nights, I also want to bake for myself, not just for others. Hoping you could help. By the way, I had to shift to Hershey’s Cocoa since I live in the Philippines and Ghirardelli is either too expensive or not available. Tasted great!
Hi Glory. I have been using this recipe for two years now and the reviews are always positive. Would you kindly teach me how to alter the recipe for just twelve (12) cupcakes? You’re the only one I trust on cupcakes, Glory. Your quick response would be appreciated. Thank you
So glad you’re enjoying the recipe! It’s a favorite in our house too!
I would suggest simply dividing each ingredient (measurement) in half. Feel free to use google to find a good conversion chart if you need help figuring out some of the measurements. The full recipe usually produces about 27 cupcakes for me, so with half you should get around 12-14.
Thank you very much for replying, Glory!
I’d like to say that I LOVED the cupcakes and they were a success between family and friends! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe, it’s already my “number one” chocolate cupcake recipe! 😉
May I bother you again and ask how I have to mix the batter and bake it if I don’t want the dome, if I want it flat?
xx