Chocolate cupcakes can be hard to perfect and will turn out dry if the batter is too thick or they are baked for too long. After baking chocolate cupcakes for years, I decided to add one ingredient to the batter to see if it made a difference.
To my surprise, the cupcakes turned out super light and fluffy, and it’s now an important ingredient in the recipe. It’s still important not to overbake chocolate cupcakes as they may turn dense, but this ingredient is a little more forgiving.
Method:
Turn on your oven to 180C/160C Fan and line a cupcake tin with 12 cases.
Next, beat the baking butter with the caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and one tablespoon of the flour, mixing again until combined.
Fold in the flour along with the cocoa powder and mix well until combined, the mixture may be quite stiff.
I then add one tablespoon of milk at a time, making sure it is whole milk or semi-skimmed to keep the fat content high.
You can also use plant-based milk if you’re making dairy-free cupcakes, and it’ll really help to loosen the mixture and make the cakes moist.
Split the mixture between the tins and bake the cakes for 20-22 minutes; they may take a couple of minutes longer depending on how much milk you used.
Leave them to cool fully on a rack, and then make the icing by beating the butter for a few minutes before adding the cocoa powder and icing sugar.
Once smooth, access the consistency and add some boiling water whilst beating together if needed before piping or spreading this onto the cooled cupcakes.
I find the addition of the milk in the cupcakes super crucial to my cake bakes and will always add some to help them turn out light and fluffy.
