Chocolate chip cupcakes with fudge buttercream
For Cupcake Friday Project’s first birthday I decided to bake cupcakes for my taste testers to celebrate. I based the recipe off of a birthday I recently baked, which was a chocolate chip pound cake with chocolate fudge frosting. I used a cake recipe from The Art of Gluten-Free Baking, but tweaked it by using all purpose flour and mini chocolate chips (tossed in flour first, to help suspend them in the batter) instead. The cakes baked up nicely and made for a nice layer cake, using Smitten Kitchen’s Instant Fudge Frosting (check it out…it’s GENIUS!)
The cake was so festive with the confetti-style sprinkles that I knew I wanted to adapt it for cupcakes for my little blog’s birthday; however, the pound cake was pretty heavy and I didn’t want my taste testers feeling like they had a brick in their stomachs. So, instead of adapting AGFB’s recipe, I decided to use a vanilla cake recipe from Glorious Treats (used previously for the tiramisu mini cupcakes at my birthday party) and add mini chocolate chips. I ramped up the vanilla, tossed the mini chocolate chips in flour, then added them to the batter … and watched them sink. Ugh.
The batter was too thin to suspend ANYTHING. What a bummer. I scooped them into my lined cupcake pans anyway and ended up with a vanilla cake with a semi-melted chocolate chip “crust.” Luckily the cupcake was delicious despite the snafu.
Now, for the frosting … I don’t HAVE to tell you this, but I will.
So, I followed Smitten Kitchen’s directions the first time I made the frosting and it was easy and delicious! Using a food processor made things easier and I didn’t have to completely clean my mixing bowl, attachment and utensils before starting. However, the second time I made the frosting–this time for the cupcakes–well, the problem was simple.
I wasn’t paying attention.
You’re supposed to melt the chocolate, cool it to room temperature THEN add it to the other ingredients in the food processor. Well, I didn’t even melt the dang stuff! I just happily tossed it in with the butter, vanilla and cream and turned it on and … wow my food processor made a lot of ANGRY noises. Then I realized … I forgot to melt the freaking chocolate! Derp!
So I had to melt the mixture over a bain marie, but didn’t have time to cool fully, which means the frosting wouldn’t set up (it tasted delicious). So I began another buttercream in my mixture and slowly added some of the chocolate butter mixture, and even then I still had to chill it.
Lesson of the day: PAY ATTENTION AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!
The frosting on the cupcake is a lighter, more-whipped version of Smitten Kitchen’s lovely fudge frosting. And while I know I usually post my recipes on Friday, I’m just going to direct you to the originals and encourage you to tweak as you may. That’s how we do it at Cupcake Friday Project.
Chocolate chip pound cake (for full gluten, sub in the exact amount of flour)
Instant Fudge Frosting
Vanilla cupcakes
Categories: cake, cupcakes, recipe