Chocolate Baby Shower Cupcakes

I had the pleasure of making these Chocolate Cupcakes with blue Italian Meringue Buttercream for a baby shower this weekend.  The cupcakes bake up with flat tops, making them the perfect platform for festive swirls of the silkiest, best tasting buttercream you can imagine.  

The cupcake recipe will make 36.  You'll have to double the buttercream recipe to decorate them all, but you'll be left with a few cups of buttercream to freeze for another day.  

For chocolate cupcakes, I like to use brown grease-proof liners.  I also love using this heavy weight commercial quality muffin/cupcake pan.  

To start the recipe, we need to combine Dutch-processed cocoa and boiling water.  Whisk them together until smooth.

Then set it aside to cool, keeping it covered to prevent it from drying out.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment, cream room temperature butter and sugar together.

Add the eggs, salt, and vanilla extract.

Beautiful.

Then add the reserved cocoa mixture, buttermilk, flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 

Done. 

The batter will make 36 cupcakes - be sure to bake just one batch of 12 cupcakes at a time.  Cover the bowl of batter with plastic wrap and allow it to sit on the counter until you're ready to bake the next batch (being sure to allow the pan to cool before filling).  I use a #20 scoop (3 tablespoons) to fill my cupcake liners so every cupcake ends up being the same size. 

The Italian Meringue Buttercream (recipe and how-to photos) can be found here.  Make 2 separate batches to frost 36 cupcakes (a double batch is too big to make in a 6-quart stand mixer, but single batches will fit in a 5 or 6-quart mixer fine).  Note: you may want to use clear vanilla if you plan to tint your buttercream.  I use pure vanilla extract 99.99% of the time, but I make a rare exception when I tint buttercream a light color that would otherwise be affected by the slightly ivory tone pure vanilla extract naturally lends to buttercream.    

For this blue shade, I tinted the buttercream with this brand of gel coloring.  I also used these round sprinkles, and Ateco polycarbonate piping tips (or a Wilton 1M).  I love polycarbonate tips and prefer them to metal for a number of reasons:  they don't bend out of shape, you can see air bubbles through them, they don't rust or discolor, and they don't have a seam so they're super easy to clean.  Love them.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• cupcake carrier https://amzn.to/3r9kAlc

• dutch processed cocoa powder https://amzn.to/3AKkJ1Y

• professional cupcake pan https://amzn.to/3Un6poq

• greaseproof cupcake liners https://amzn.to/3oaitMd

• #20 portion scoop https://amzn.to/3g4ehJu

• white pearl sprinkles https://amzn.to/3g74tOR

• gel coloring https://amzn.to/3ycH47Y

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/3o8stWj

• wilton 1m piping tip https://amzn.to/35rMBw1

• large piping bags (I suggest nothing smaller than 16 inches) https://amzn.to/3o7VFMW

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Chocolate Cupcakes

makes 36

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup boiling water

• 3/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 3 large eggs, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or clear vanilla extract)

• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in center position.

2. Line muffin pan with paper liners; set aside until needed.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder until smooth; cover with plastic wrap and cool until needed.

4. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside until needed.

5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBlade attachment, cream butter and sugar for a couple minutes until light and fluffy.

6. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt; mix until combined.

7. Add cooled cocoa mixture, flour mixture, and buttermilk; mix just until combined.

8. Use a #20 scoop to fill cupcake liners and tap the pan on the counter to even the level of batter before baking.

9. Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

10. Cool cupcakes in pan for several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Note

• Be sure cupcakes are completely cool before frosting with Italian Meringue Buttercream (recipe and photos found here).  You'll need to make 2 batches to frost 36 cupcakes. 

adapted from recipegirl.com 

Gluten-Free Fudge Cookies

These Fudge Cookies are the bomb!  They're soft, and chewy, and absolutely packed full of deep chocolate flavor.  Oh, and did I mention they're gluten-free and dairy-free too!  You are going to LOVE these cookies!  The recipe comes together pretty quickly using a stand mixer.  Here's how they're made.

We're going to start with confectioners sugar (aka 10x, powdered sugar, or icing sugar).  

I always sift confectioners sugar because it's notoriously clumpy. 

Next we need Dutch-process cocoa.  Use very good quality - it's the major flavor component of these cookies.

Again, cocoa powder is notoriously clumpy so it gets sifted too.   I use a mesh strainer to sift my dry ingredients, but I know some people are very fond of a more traditional sifter.

Stir the sifted sugar and cocoa together.

Done. 

Time to add the egg whites.  Because eggs whites aren't a consistent size, I like to weigh them.  Actually, I like to use a digital scale to weigh most ingredients when I bake - it's the most reliable way to get consistent results, but we can talk about that another time.

Ok, we need just a couple more super yummy ingredients like pure vanilla extract and espresso powder.  These two brands are excellent.  You won't be disappointed if you use them.  

In goes the espresso powder.

Followed by the pure vanilla extract - use the good stuff! 

Place the mixing bowl on the stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or, even better, a BeaterBlade.  I love using a BeaterBlade because it has silicone ribs that scrape the sides of the bowl for you.  No more stopping to scrape down the sides manually.  Love, love, love my BeaterBlade (they're available in different sizes so be sure to get the one that fits your mixer).

Time to mix.  Since the cocoa powder and confectioners sugar tend to create a cloud of dust when mixing, I like to cover the mixer and bowl with a clean kitchen towel until all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Plastic wrap works well too.  

Okay, the cookie dough is done when all the ingredients are combined.  It'll be smooth and glossy and should look like this.  Let the dough rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes to firm up a bit before scooping.

Use a #50 scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a Silpat lined half sheet pan (these cookies don't look as nice when baked on parchment).  Using a portion scoop will ensure the most consistent results.  

See how all the cookie blobs are the same size and they're spaced evenly on the sheet pan?  That enables them all to bake in the same amount of time and they'll all be the same size.  If you don't have a #50 scoop, you can portion the dough using a level tablespoon.  

This cookie dough contains a lot of confectioners sugar which tends to dry out easily so cover it with a damp kitchen towel to prevent it from crusting between batches (I reused the same towel that covered my stand mixer earlier).  

Oh my, they're sooooo good.  I wish you could smell them.  I'm dying!!   

Now muster all your will power and allow the cookies to cool completely on the sheet pan before serving.  Mmm... they're so soft and chewy and fudgy and amazing.  You're going to love them!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• digital scale https://amzn.to/3HdExwS

• #50 cookie scoop https://amzn.to/3gnQ6Gh

• silpat liners https://amzn.to/3r8YuiM

• half sheet pans https://amzn.to/3g717eP

• beaterblade attachment https://amzn.to/3GabbOL

• dutch processed cocoa powder https://amzn.to/3Ho2mSE

• pure vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3HanYSv

• instant espresso powder https://amzn.to/3Ho2mSE

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Gluten-Free Fudge Cookies

makes 32 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups (18 ounces, 518g) confectioners sugar, sifted

• 2 cups (6 ounces, 184g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted

• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml, 3g) fine salt

• 6 large egg whites (6 ounces, 180g)

• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) espresso powder

• 4 teaspoons (20 ml) pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Line two half sheet pans with Silpat liners.

3. Stir the sifted confectioners sugar and cocoa powder together in the bowl of a stand mixer.

4. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and place on mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a BeaterBlade attachment.

5. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are completely combined and the dough is smooth and glossy.

6. Allow the cookie dough to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

7. Use a #50 scoop to portion dough onto half sheet pans lined with Silpat liners.

8. Bake on center rack for 8-12 minutes. The cookies should begin to crack when they're done.

9. Remove from oven and allow to cookies to cool completely on sheet pan.

Note 

• Store cookies in an airtight container between layers of wax paper.