I used a recipe from Cake on the Brain. I found it by googling "best chocolate cupcake recipe". I can't believe I hadn't done this before! Click here to check it out.
There were two things that drew me in to the recipe. First off, it calls for cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. I don't know why this just seemed to me like it would make it more rich or decadent. Who knows! Also, unlike most cake/cupcake recipes this one used sour cream instead of milk which in my opinion is always better especially with chocolate. Alright enough yapper, why don't you just drool over the pictures?
HOLY COW!!!
***Okay, I had to take a break and grab one with a glass of milk after seeing this picture :P
No comment...
Okay I have to confess... I did make a change to the recipe. I hope you don't want to slap me. Personally I hate when I read recipe reviews and people rant and rave about them and then they yap about all the changes they made to it to make it perfect.
So I've had blue agave nectar sitting in my pantry for a few months now. Every time I bake I tell myself I'm going to use it and then I get scared like what if it turns out gross and end up not doing it. Today I was like who cares and just went for it and it worked [at least for this recipe]. I used Wholesome Sweetness Organic Blue Agave which is like $7-$9 at Costco, can't really remember.
I would love to enlighten you guys on the ins and outs of agave but I don't really know much about it myself. I do know that it claims to be 25% sweeter than sugar which means you can use less. It also has a low glycemic index. What that means is that the body takes longer to metabolize the sugar from the agave and that way it doesn't spike blood sugar levels. Apparently this is good for the body but I'm no doctor so take it for what it's worth. You can go to Wholesome Sweetness' website and read more about it.
As far as baking goes, they say you can substitute it with sugar in baking 1:1 but since it is sweeter, using it 3:4 would work. Because it is liquid, they also suggest that you reduce any liquid needed in the recipe by one third. The recipe below has been modified by me.
Best Chocolate Cupcakes Ever
adapted from: Cake on the Brain, yields ≈12 cupcakes
• 1 stick of butter [half cup/8 tbsp]
• 1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa Powder
• 2 oz Nestle Toll House Semisweet Chocolate Morsels
• 2 large room temperature eggs
• 3/4 agave nectar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 cup sour cream
*Preheat oven to 325ยบ
1. Add butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips to a microwave safe bowl and microwave it in 20 second intervals until everything is melted and you get a smooth chocolate sauce.
2. While the chocolate is cooling, sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, ass eggs along with the agave and salt. After these are incorporated, add the chocolate mixture.
4. With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mix. Once the flour is absorbed into the liquid, add the sour cream.
5. Stop the mixer and fold in the last half of the flour.
6. Spoon evenly into 12 lined cupcake cups
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
8. Cool completely before eating
9. For the frosting I made half a batch of Best Frosting Recipe and added in 1/3 cup of creamy peanut butter.
haha! so funny that you should mention agave nectar because I have 2 bottles from Whole Foods sitting in my cupboard...and I haven't figured out what to do with it yet! now I know I can use it for this cupcake recipe! thanks! I'm so glad the recipe worked out for you! looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteyes, definitely don't be a scaredy cat like me :P
ReplyDeletethanks so much for sharing your recipe!
-karen