The Making of Will’s DOUBLE Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes! [With Recipe!]
November 7, 2009 by uvkitty
Filed under Food!, Kimmi Kill Zombie's Blog
Yesterday was my friend Will’s birthday (he was the one dressed as Freddy Kreuger in my Halloween Post). I promised him drunkenly Halloween night that I would make him the best birthday cupcakes ever. And, seeing that the morning of November 1st I remembered this promise, I knew I couldn’t go back on my word.
And so here is the tutorial for My super duper, double chocolate, jumbo cupcakes. [Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes, with a White Chocolate Buttercream]
Now before we get started, I just want everyone to know something. I used a box mix. And I’m not ashamed. It’s quick, it’s easy, and the quality of the cake is superb. Plus, they are really easy to tweak, and they are pretty fool proof.
Alright, so now that we got that out of the way, here are the ingredients & supplies you’ll need…
Ingredients:
- 1 Box Devil’s Food or Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix [One that yeilds 24 cupakes]
- 1 Cup Water
- 1/3 Cup Oil [vegetable, or whatever your preference is will work]
- 3 Large Eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder [Optional- for extra chocolatey cake!]
- 1/2 Cup Margarine
- 1/2 Cup Crisco Brand Shortening
- 3 Cups Icing Sugar
- 1 Bag of White Chocolate Chips [the one we used was hershey's chipits and was 225 grams]
- 1/4 Cup of Milk
Supplies:
- 12-18 Cupcake Cups
- A piping bag
- A Large Cupcake Icing Tip. We Got Ours here.
This recipe yields enough for 16-18 Jumbo Frosted Cupcakes, or 12 Jumbo frosted cupcakes, and a 6″ mini cake [I made a decoy cake so my boyfriend wouldn't eat Will's cupcakes].
1. Firstly, we have to mix and bake our cake. Now is a good time to pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. You then want to pour your dry box mix in a mixing bowl. Toss in 3 eggs, 1 Cup Water, and 1/3 a cup oil. Your box will call for 1 and 1/3 cups of water, but because we are making Jumbo Cupcakes, we want our cake to be firmer, so it can withstand it’s shape being bounced around in tupperware carriers, because it will bubble over the the top of the wrapper.
2. Mix It up with an electric mixer, or handmixer, or whatever you’ve got. Mix it until all of the lumps are gone, and the cake mix starts to come out of the whisks in ‘ribbons’.
3. OPTIONAL. Quickly blend in 2 tablespoons of cocoa so the cake is extra chocolate-y.
QUICK TIP: If you are also making a ‘decoy cake’, You’ll want to butter and flour it, to prevent your cake from sticking. Take some butter or margarine on a paper towel, and rub it all over the bottom and sides of the pan in circular motions. then toss in a couple teaspoons of flour into the pan and shake the pan around until the entire bottom and sides are well coated.
4.Now it’s time to get our mix in the baking cups! For JUMBO cupcakes, you’ll want to almost fill the entire cup. Just keep it about a 1/4 inch from the brim. Do this for all of your cups, and put the extra in your mini cake pan, or just fill more cupcake cups!
You may have a little trouble here as the batter is really thick. Use a large ladle, and have a
small spoon handy to swipe the drip.
5.When you’ve got all of your cups filled, give the pan a couple of shakes to even out the batter.
6.Then, it’s time to bake! Throw them in the oven for 21-25 minute, and stick a toothpick in the center cake to ensure they are done. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cakes are done!
7.It is customary to lick the spoon at this time.
8.Now, while we’re waiting for our cakes to bake, we’ll make the frosting. This can be tricky.We’re going to be melting chocolate on the stove and mixing the icing base at the same time. The key is to always check your chocolate, keep it on the lowest setting, and stir it every few seconds.
Throw your bag of white chocolate chip in a small saucepan, and put it on the lowest setting.
9.Take a clean mixing bowl, and mix together your margarine and shortening. Mix it for about 2 minutes, until uniform and even. Gradually add your four cups of icing sugar, mixing as you go, until it’s nice and frothy. Remember to keep stirring and checking your chocolate as you do this.
10.Once the chocolate is almost completely creamy, you’ll want to slowly stir in the 1/4 cup of milk. Don’t be alarmed when the chocolate starts to chunk, and doesn’t want to mix with the milk. Just keep stirring and eventually it will melt and blend in again.
11.Keep stirring the mixture until it is smooth and even, and there are no little un-melted chocolate pieces. You can now pour this mixture into your already mixed icing.
Blend quickly, before the chocolate stiffens.
12.When you are happy with the consistency, load your piping bag (with the tip already in it!) and get ready to pipe your cupcakes.
Make sure the cupcakes have cooled by this time. If they haven’t, take a break! Let them cool completely.
13.To make the design like I did, you’ll need a large ‘Star’ frosting tip. Take your piping bag, and with constant and deliberate pressure squeeze out your icing directly on your cupcake. While you are squeezing, you can twist the bag slight from side to side to make interesting designs. To make a clean point, you’ll need to stop pressure quickly and deliberately while pulling the piping bag up and away from the cupcake.
14.Repeat this until all of your cupcakes are done!
Here is a picture of the cupcakes packed up and ready to go to Will’s!
