The Best Moist Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

A cupcake (also British English: fairy cake; Hiberno-English: bun; Australian English: fairy cake or patty cake) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, icing and other cake decorations such as fruit and candy may be applied.

History of Cupcake

The earliest extant description of what is now often called a cupcake was in 1796, when a recipe for “a light cake to bake in small cups” was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. The earliest extant documentation of the term cupcake itself was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie’s Receipts cookbook.

In the early 19th century, there were two different uses for the term cup cake or cupcake. In previous centuries, before muffin tins were widely available, the cakes were often baked in individual pottery cups, ramekins, or molds and took their name from the cups they were baked in. This is the use of the name that has remained, and the name of “cupcake” is now given to any small, round cake that is about the size of a teacup. While English fairy cakes vary in size more than American cupcake, they are traditionally smaller and are rarely topped with elaborate icing. (Chocolate Cupcake Recipe)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• frosting: chocolate buttercream or any of these frostings

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F . Line muffin pan with paper cases.

Step 2
Now whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

Step 3

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla together until completely smooth. Pour half of the wet ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients. Then half of the buttermilk. Whisk gently for a few seconds. Repeat with the remaining wet ingredients and buttermilk.

Step 4

Pour the thin dough into the liners. Do not fill the liners more than halfway, otherwise the filling will leak out in the next step. Bake for 18-21 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.