Recipes Desserts Cake Cupcakes Chocolate Cupcakes 5.0 (5,238) 69 Reviews These classic chocolate cupcakes are ready in less than an hour, the perfect dessert for any occasion. By Grace Parisi Grace Parisi Grace Parisi a former senior test kitchen editor for Food & Wine, where she wrote several successful monthly columns: Food & Wine Handbook, Tasting & Testing, Flavor of the Month, Power Pantry, and Chefs Recipes Made Easy. Parisi has also been published in McCall’s, Redbook, and The New York Times, has written five hit cookbooks, and has appeared numerous times on national television. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on April 16, 2023 Rate PRINT Share Active Time: 20 mins Total Time: 45 mins Yield: 12 cupcakes Cupcake mania may ebb and flow, but truly wonderful cupcakes never go out of style. Tender cake baked in pretty fluted cups and mounded with fluffy icing, cupcakes are single servings of saccharin joy that are easy to share and even easier to serve: No fork required. Dress them up or down depending on the occasion, they'll delight crowds of any kind, children and adults alike. This is the chocolate cupcake recipe to have in your dessert arsenal. It includes both butter and oil, which means these little cakes stay soft and moist even when cold. It's important to note that the recipe calls for unsweetened natural cocoa powder, which is not interchangeable with Dutch-process cocoa in this case. That's because natural cocoa powder is full of bright chocolate flavor that's more acidic than the Dutch-process stuff, which is alkalized. Paired with tangy buttermilk, this recipe depends on that acidity to activate the baking soda, producing light, springy chocolate cupcakes worthy of piling high with frosting. Ingredients 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup water 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-process) 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 1 large egg 1/4 cup buttermilk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Directions Julia Hartbeck Gather the ingredients. Julia Hartbeck Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Julia Hartbeck In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with the vegetable oil and water over low heat. Julia Hartbeck In a large bowl, sift the flour with the sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Julia Hartbeck Add the melted butter mixture and beat with a handheld mixer at low speed until smooth. Add the egg and beat until incorporated, then add the buttermilk and vanilla and beat until smooth, scraping the bottom and side of the bowl. Julia Hartbeck Pour the batter into the lined muffin tins, filling them about three-fourths full. Julia Hartbeck Bake the cupcakes in the center of the oven for about 25 minutes, until springy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool slightly, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Frost and top the cupcakes as desired. (See recipes for Chocolate Frosting, Marshmallow Frosting, or White Buttercream Frosting.) Make ahead The unfrosted cupcakes can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Originally appeared: May 2008 Rate It Print