A light and fluffy dark chocolate cupcake with a creamy, luscious white chocolate buttercream.
I had the honor of making the cupcakes and cake for one of my colleague’s wedding. He got married on New Year’s Eve. What a great way to bring in the New Year by celebrating with all your friends and family, and committing to the one you love.
When I originally spoke to the lovely couple about what they wanted, they just mentioned chocolate. So I decided to go with a bold, dark chocolate cupcake and contrast it with a soft, smooth white chocolate buttercream. The two opposite flavors compliment one another like Yin & Yang.
When I say the cupcake is dark, I mean it’s almost black in color. The texture is soft and moist with the most intense chocolate flavor. There is also strong black coffee mixed into the batter, so there is a hint of coffee flavor. I also thought the kick of caffeine would be fun at midnight.
The frosting is made with Lindt White Chocolate which gives it a luxurious and velvety smooth, vanilla cocoa butter flavor – a true white chocolate taste.
Here’s what the actual set-up looked like. What you see is 120 cupcakes with a 3-layer 8″ cake on top and yes, that is a Minion wedding couple cake topper. Cute, eh? The groom’s last name is Minion and the gold clock cupcake toppers represent the stroke of midnight. I was intently making sure everything looked perfect. I also had the help of my awesome husband that night.
Congratulations Faith and Chris! I wish you enjoy all the pleasures that togetherness brings in life. 🙂
Cupcake recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest
Buttercream recipe by Little Sweet Baker
I will also be bringing these to Fiesta Friday #49 @The Novice Gardener. Have a fabulous weekend everyone!
PrintDark Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream
A light and fluffy dark chocolate cupcake with a creamy, luscious white chocolate buttercream.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Ingredients for the cake:
- 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Dutch processed)
- 1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup strong coffee, hot
Ingredients for the buttercream:
- 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 200 grams good quality white chocolate, melted and cooled
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line 2 baking tins with 24 cupcake liners.
- In a medium bowl, toss together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, yogurt, vegetable oil and vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, slowly add the dry ingredient and mix until combined. Add the hot coffee and whisk everything together until smooth.
- Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
To make the buttercream:
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or handheld mixer, beat the butter for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the first 3 cups of powdered sugar, one at a time, mixing in between. Then add the melted white chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the last 2 cups of powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Frost cupcakes as desired. I used a Wilton 1M tip.
Keywords: chocolate cupcake recipe, dark chocolate cupcakes, white chocolate buttercream
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Hailey says
I baked these cupcakes for my son’s birthday party and all of his friends kept on asking for more until they ran out!
★★★★★
Shani says
These cupcakes are truly delicious! I first had them at a birthday party, asked for the recipe and made them over the weekend. I was surprised by how much coffee the recipe calls for. I absolutely hate the taste of coffee, but didn’t detect it in the final product. The cupcakes come out extremely moist and light. They almost fall apart they’re so light. I would recommend have sturdy cupcake liners to hold them. Some of mine lost their shape during transport.
I halved the frosting recipe and added some heavy whipping cream to lighten it up. That was plenty of frosting for all of the cupcakes.
★★★★★
Lily Ernst says
Hi Shani,
Thanks for the great feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the cupcakes. Happy new year!
binte haroon says
Thank you lily for a lovely recipe… These dark chocolate cuppies are simply delicious and combined with the fluffy white chocolate butter cream just gives it the perfect delicate delicious taste! May I suggest to add 1/2tsp salt instead of 1 full tsp since the baking powder and soda give off a slight saltiness! And 4 the perfect shape cuppies, allow the batter to stand for 10 mins before filling cuppies and baking! Thank you!
Lily Ernst says
Hi Binte, you’re welcome and thank you for your kind words. I appreciate your insightful suggestions. Have a wonderful day:)
Gautami says
Hi, Can buttermilk be substituted with anything else?
Lily Ernst says
yes, you can use skim or whole milk. Enjoy and have a wonderful day:)
Gautami says
Thank you ?. You too ?
Live Laugh Love says
Any chance you can share what your recipe and process was for the cake portion of this? My moms 70 is coming and this cake is very much what I had in mind – except with gold bling 🙂
Lily says
Hi, I used the 3-layer cake recipe from http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/simple-chocolate-birthday-cake-whipped-chocolate-buttercream/ For the buttercream, follow my recipe and add 1/4 cup whipping cream to make it easier to spread. Lastly, I just used store bought fondant to cover the cake and wrapped a diamond rhinestone ribbon around the bottom of the cake. Let me know if you have any other questions and happy 70th birthday to your mom:)
ana says
Thank you!!! I will be making a 6 inch but this is a great start to help guide me!
Amy says
Lily! These are beautiful 🙂 I love the idea of the deep dark chocolate cupcake topped with a sweet, fluffy white chocolate frosting. A relationship is all about contrast and using your strengths to make a sweet life 😉
Also, how cute are those cake toppers!
I can’t wait to give these cupcakes a try, and I’m sure my co-workers will have big smiles on their faces when I do.
Lily says
Awww, I like your outlook on relationships, thanks Amy, hugs:)
Janine says
Yum, these look amazing! What a wonderful way to end off 2014!
Lily says
Thanks Janine and Happy New Year!
Swayam says
wow….these are soo amazing!! 🙂
Lily says
Thanks Swayam and Happy New Year!