Hey there, and welcome back, friends.

You are in for a sweet treat!

These peanut butter high hat cupcakes are made from a soft and fluffy vanilla cupcake topped with creamy peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache. (Post originally published in 2013. Pictures and recipe updated in June 2022)

I made these peanut butter high hat cupcakes this weekend for a small surprise graduation party we were hosting at our place. The graduate didn’t want a party but her mother and I threw her a small get-together anyway to celebrate her Master’s Degree!!

These cupcakes are also called hi-hat cupcakes. What do you call them? 

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You can never have too many vanilla cupcake recipes. They are staples in any baking repertoire and I am always looking for new ones to add to my recipe box. These vanilla bean buttermilk cupcakes are joining my favorites and for a good reason. They are soft, moist, slightly tangy (thanks to the buttermilk) and just perfect every time for your celebrations. From birthday parties to a Valentine’s Day party, they are easy to customize with sprinkles and cupcake toppers! 

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Today’s recipe is a simple and essential for your St Patrick’s Day celebration. These chocolate Guinness cupcakes gives us an easy way to celebrate the Irish in all of us. Of course, I am not Irish but I wear green, eat soda bread and corned beef and enjoy booze filled desserts to celebrate with my Irish friends on St Patrick’s Day. This decadent (uber decadent I should say) light, moist cupcake and creamy chocolate frosting is a great way to get your party started.

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Every now and then I forget that we all need classic recipes for our baking repertoire. That is why I am bringing back these chocolate cupcakes with perfect chocolate buttercream back to your attention. I first shared this recipe over three years ago and I still use it every day. It is my go-to chocolate recipe for cupcakes and cakes and it is the only chocolate recipe you will need.

This chocolate cupcake recipe is a one-bowl devil’s food chocolate recipe that is fool-proof. Made with buttermilk, vegetable oil and coffee, it is moist, decadent and every chocolate lover’s dream. The addition of hot coffee to the batter always give a moist, rich mocha chocolate cake. If you don’t want to use coffee, just replace with hot water.

The buttercream here is a little different from my usual but it’s been a delicious variation. Instead of adding melted chocolate to the frosting, I used cocoa powder. It gives a very creamy, fluffy and chocolate-y frosting. With the addition of cocoa powder you are in control of how much chocolate you add and how chocolate-y the frosting will be. Regardless of your chocolate preference levels, this frosting is amazing!!

As I was putting this post together, I realized that I don’t have a post on the blog dedicated to chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. I always dress things up. There were these dark chocolate salted caramel cupcakes (my absolute favorite, if I must say so) and this chocolate milky way cupcakes and even this chocolate peanut butter cake. But nothing just CHOCOLATE. And sometimes you just need a great chocolate cupcake.

So if you are looking for go-to chocolate cupcakes with perfect chocolate buttercream, look no further. This recipe will not disappoint and is easy to whip up at any time!!

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Yield: ~15 cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

My go-to chocolate cupcake recipe is a very moist, airy, rich chocolate cupcake with a perfect creamy chocolate buttercream.

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

For Chocolate Cupcakes:

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• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• ½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• ½ cup strong black coffee, hot
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For Chocolate Frosting

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• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• ¾ - 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

For the Chocolate Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer.
3. In a medium bowl, combine all the wet ingredients using a whisk.
4. Mix the dry ingredients on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the mixer and add the wet ingredients. Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed and scrape the sides and bottom of bowl. Mix for additional minute on medium speed.
5. The batter will be thin. Divide evenly among the cupcake liners.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
7. Cool cupcakes on wire racks completely. Meanwhile you could start on the frosting.

For Chocolate Frosting:

1. Whip butter on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt and mix on low for 1 minute until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add heavy cream and beat on medium-high for an additional minute or two.
3. Frost cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.

Notes

I got the sprinkles from HERE

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The post Chocolate Cupcakes with Perfect Chocolate Buttercream appeared first on A Classic Twist.

I couldn’t let the summer go by without having at least one or two classic summer recipes. These smores cupcakes are my first s’more of the season. Isn’t that sad? Seriously, I have lots of catching up to do. But I’m glad I started with these cupcakes.

I had a serious craving for s’mores a week ago after I saw my friend Alice shared a s’mores cupcake on her Instagram. I had to create my own and a cookout at the in-laws this past weekend was the perfect time to have some taste testers.

They received raving reviews like I expected. Both the chocolate lovers and haters loved them and I came home with an empty cake carrier. Why were they a hit? They are decadent!!

If you are not interested in moist decadent chocolate cupcakes, then these s’mores cupcakes are not for you. Starting with my super duper chocolate cake recipe, I topped them with whipped chocolate frosting, graham cracker crumbs and a toasted marshmallow. One bite of these cupcakes and you are in s’mores heaven without a campfire.

One disclaimer to these cupcakes though – they are a little light on the graham crackers on purpose because I wanted more chocolate. If you want more graham crackers, I’ve seen people baking the cupcake batter on top of a graham cracker crumb. But in my opinion, these cupcakes are the perfect combination of chocolate, toasted marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs. The best of smore flavors.

They are now my new favorite cupcakes on the blog. Slightly above these  pink velvet cupcakes that have been my favorite for years.

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Yield: 12-15 cupcakes

Smores Cupcakes

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

For Cupcakes

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• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup hot coffee

For Frosting

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• 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• ½ cup semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted and cooled
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Assembly:

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• 2 graham crackers, finely crushed
• 12-15 marshmallows

Instructions

To make cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with 12-15 cupcake liners.
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients using a whisk.
4. Mix the dry ingredients on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the mixer and add half of the wet ingredients. Mix for a minute on medium speed and scrape the sides and bottom of bowl. Add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix for additional minute on medium speed. The batter will be thin. Using a medium cookie scoop, divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Fill each liner about ¾ of the way.
5. Bake cupcakes for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Remove immediately from muffin tins and cool cupcakes on wire racks completely. Meanwhile you could start on the frosting.

To make frosting:

1. Whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer. The butter will become pale and creamy.
2. Add the powdered sugar and heavy cream and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Then increase speed to medium and mix for 2-3 minutes until the frosting is light, creamy and fluffy. Add in the melted chocolate and cocoa powder. Mix until well combined.

Assembly:

1. Frost cooled cupcakes using your favorite decorating tip. I used Wilton Tip 1M for these cupcakes.
2. Top cupcakes with the crushed graham crackers.
3. Broil the marshmallows slightly until charred and starting to melt.
4. Top the cupcakes with marshmallows and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Making this Recipe?

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The post S’mores Cupcakes appeared first on A Classic Twist.

What’s different about these cupcakes is that I filled my favorite lemon cupcakes with a super sweet and tart raspberry lemon curd filling. Remember the raspberry lemon curd from this Raspberry Tart? Whatever was left over made it into these cupcakes and what a great idea. These sweet lemon cupcakes filled with a raspberry lemon curd and topped with a fluffy raspberry buttercream make for a summer spectacle. These are the cupcakes you want to party with this summer. Trust me!

Print

Yield: 12-15 cupcakes

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes

Total Time 44 minutes

Ingredients

For Curd:

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• 2 large egg yolks
• zest of ½ a lemon
• juice of ½ a lemon
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
• a pinch of salt
• ½ cup raspberry puree/ preserve

For Cupcakes

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• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup buttermilk, room temperature

For Raspberry Buttercream:

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• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 3-4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
• a pinch of salt
• ½ cup raspberry compote/ preserve

Instructions

To make Raspberry Lemon Curd Filling:

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks, lemon zest and juice and sugar until well combined. Set saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, cook mixture until it’s thick enough to coat the back of the spatula, about 8-10 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, stirring constantly until smooth. Once smooth, strain through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Combine the lemon curd with raspberry preserve/ puree. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of the curd and refrigerate until chilled, at least an hour or up to a day. This recipe makes about a cup of lemon curd. You wont use it all for the filling. Use leftovers to top pancakes, top ice cream etc.

To make Cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Rub with your fingertips until fragrant and sugar is moist. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar mixture together until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Beat in lemon juice, vanilla and almond extracts.
4. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the flour mixture to the batter. Add the buttermilk and beat until just combined. Add the rest of the flour and mix until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Do not over-mix.
5. Divide batter into prepared tins. Fill each liner about ⅔ full. Bake cupcakes until lightly golden or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 12-14 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

For the Raspberry Frosting:

1. Whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer. The butter will become pale and creamy.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Then increase speed to medium and mix for 6 minutes until the frosting is light, creamy and fluffy.
3. Fill cupcakes with a teaspoon of raspberry lemon curd filling. Frost cooled cupcakes using your favorite decorating tip. I used Wilton Tip 2D for these cupcakes.

Making this Recipe?

Share it with us on Instagram using #aclassictwist so we can see what you are baking up in your kitchen!

The post Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes appeared first on A Classic Twist.