Miette Double Chocolate Cupcakes

What's a chocolate sponge without real chocolate? That devil’s food cake boil-the-water stuff just isn't enough for me! I need (let’s be honest - (but only in cowardly brackets) want) the real deal, organic/fairtrade/100% cacoa that derives from cocoa beans sourced from bohemian, tropical dessert islands… who am I kidding? A whole cup of the cocoa I used for these cupcakes came from Hershey’s cocoa that was on special offer at ASDA. But in this cakey instance, it mattered not because the great thing about this recipe is that it uses a near similar amount of flour and cocoa, so it was always going to taste of something that could be likened to chocolate. Also, have you ever noticed that most chocolate cake recipes only call for about half a cup of cocoa? Miette chucks in plenty of the chocolate stuff, which raised the recipe potential quite significantly and TRUST me, Miette really takes chocolate cake to another level with this recipe. It was so dense and there was no spongy after taste, just sweet and strong scents of sexy chocolate coming through from each and every bite. What more could you want?

Miette Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 18 double chocolate cupcakes (buttercream in the recipe)

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 and a quarter cups caster sugar
56g 70% chocolate
1 cup boiling water
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil

 Miette Double Chocolate Cupcakes

• Line two cupcake trays and  preheat the oven to 180C.
• Put the chocolate in a heatproof measuring jug and pour the boiling water over it. Whisk until the chocolate is melted. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes.
• Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
• In a separate jug, whisk together the buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.
• Whisk the eggs on high speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly pour in the oil, whisking until combined. Raise the speed to medium and whisk until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds longer.
• Reduce the speed and slowly pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Slowly pour in the buttermilk and vanilla mixture. 
• Add the sugar and whisk until the batter is smooth and liquid, about 2 minutes.
• Stop the mixer. Remove the bowl and add the sifted dry ingredients and fold it in by hand until just incorporated. Now whiz the mix with the whisk attachment for ten seconds. 
• Pour the batter through a sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps. Press against the solids in the sieve with a spatula to push through as much batter as possible.
• With an ice cream scoop, plop the batter exactly two thirds into the liners - no more than that ( i made this mistake). 
• Bake until the tops spring back, 23 minutes.
• Transfer to wire racks and let cool in the pans. 
• Meanwhile, make the frosting by whipping the butter (100g) and cream cheese(200g) together till combined. 
• Slowly add the icing sugar (500g), then the lemon juice(1tsp). Beat for 2 minutes till pale in colour.
• Pipe with your favourite nozzle!

Last but not least, if you're not able to attend the Cake & Bake Show this weekend at Earls Court, be sure to watch this space next week to see exactly what went down at the event, I'm so excited!

Love Em xx