- I wanna show you how to make

perfect chocolate cupcakes.

These are moist, fluffy,

and there's a surprising secret ingredient

that makes them super chocolatey.

Check this out.

(upbeat music)

Oh.

Whoa. Nope.

(grunts)

Hey, everybody.

It's Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com.

Seriously, everybody who tries

these cupcakes loves them,

and wait until you try that

buttercream chocolate frosting.

Mm, mm.

I'm totally craving cupcakes,

so let's get started.

(hands tapping)

This recipe comes together fast,

so go ahead and preheat your

oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First, whisk together

your dry ingredients.

That's one-and-a-half
cups of all-purpose flour,

a cup of granulated sugar,

one-third cup of unsweetened cocoa,

one teaspoon of baking soda,

and half a teaspoon of salt.

Thoroughly whisk that together,

breaking up any big clumps of cocoa.

In a second mixing bowl,

combine the wet ingredients.

We'll start with our secret ingredient,

which is one cup of warm coffee.

Also, add one tablespoon

of white distilled vinegar

a third cup of light olive

oil or vegetable oil,

one room temperature large egg,

and two teaspoons of real vanilla extract.

Thoroughly whisk together

your wet ingredients.

Then pour the wet ingredients

over the dry ingredients.

Now you're gonna whisk those together

until no dry streaks of flour remain.

The batter will still

be a little bit loose

and slightly lumpy.

You don't want to overmix this batter.

Once it's just combined, stop mixing.

Line a 12-count muffin or

cupcake tin with paper liners.

Now, fill each liner

about two-thirds full.

It's important that you don't overfill.

Filling the liners two-thirds full ensures

that you get that beautiful, perfect dome

on top of every cupcake.

I like using my
trigger-release ice cream scoop

to make portioning cleaner and easier,

and I will link to this

and all the tools we use

in this video in the notes.

You can see that batter
is still slightly lumpy,

and that's exactly what you want.

Just like with the waffles

recipe, if you over-mix,

you develop those gluten strands,

and it can result in a tough cupcake.

Once all of your batter is divided evenly

between the liners,

place that on the center

rack in a preheated oven

and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

for about 18 to 22 minutes.

I find that 20 minutes

is just right in my oven.

Bake until a toothpick

inserted into the center

comes out clean.

(upbeat music)

Once they're out of the oven,

cool the cupcakes in the

pan for five minutes,

then transfer them to a

wire rack to cool completely

to room temperature
before adding frosting.

You never want to frost a warm cupcake

because the frosting will melt.

Once those are nearly at room temperature,

we're gonna get started on the frosting.

This is my favorite chocolate

buttercream frosting.

It's so simple, and it comes

together in six minutes.

You'll need one cup or 16 tablespoons

of softened, unsalted butter,

and the key to perfect buttercream

is to make sure your butter

isn't overly softened.

You never want it to be melted,

or the buttercream won't

come together properly.

I've had this butter

sitting at room temperature

at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit

for about an hour and a half.

Use a handheld mixer or a stand mixer

fitted with the whisk attachment

and beat the butter on high

speed for three minutes

or until it's creamy

and lightened in color.

Next, add three cups

of confectioner's sugar

and half a cup of unsweetened

natural cocoa powder.

Also, three tablespoons

of heavy whipping cream,

two teaspoons of real vanilla extract,

and I'll link to this

homemade version in the notes.

It's just two ingredients.

Also, add a quarter teaspoon of salt,

and make sure you do not skip the salt

because it really balances

the sweetness of the frosting.

Start beating that on low speed

until the sugar is incorporated,

so you don't end up in a

cloud of powdered sugar.
Then scrape down the bowl and
increase to medium-high speed,

beating for another three minutes.

I like to scrape down

the bowl while mixing

to make sure everything

is really well blended.

(upbeat music)

All right.

That's what I call a six-minute

chocolate buttercream.

It's so easy.

Okay...

And it refrigerates and

freeze as well, too.

Bonus.

All right, we're gonna

transfer that to a piping bag,

pipe it onto our cupcakes,

and finally enjoy that taste test

that I've been waiting for.

Okay. I'm excited.

All right.

We're gonna fit this with

a large open star tip,

and this is a Wilton 1M

'cause I really like how

that pipes onto cupcakes,

if I can get that in there right.

I know what I'm doing.

I'm just excited for the taste test.

All right, I've got that in there.

And fill it up.

Ooh, look at that.

Look at that texture.

It is so nice.

This pipes beautifully

onto cupcakes and cakes.

It is excellent.

And if you wanted to thin it out,

you could add a little

bit more heavy cream,

but I think it's just

perfect the way it is.

Oh, Yum. Yummers.

I just wanna haumph.

It's so yummy.

And make sure,

make sure you don't skip that

little bit of salt in there

because it really balances the frosting.

Oh, yummy, yummy, yummy.

And it's super subtle, so

don't be afraid of the salt.

Okay. Prime our bag here.

Okay.

And our cupcakes are about

at room temperature, almost.

You wanna make sure

they're at room temperature

before you put on the frosting,

but for the sake of this taste test,

we're gonna cheat a little bit.

Okay, here we go.

And this will make enough frosting

to generously frost 12 cupcakes.

You can probably stretch it to 24

if you just use a little bit of frosting.

Just saying.

Okay, it's time. It's time.

And I'm scared 'cause now

I have to bite into this.

But I'm ready. I can do this.

I got this. I got this.

Okay. Let's peel this back.

Oh, and it is so moist and tender inside,

but the wrapper still comes off

pretty easily, which I love.

Okay, here we go.

Oh my god. Here we go.

Mmm, mmm.

Oh.

Mmm! (laughs)

This right here is every

chocolate lover's dream.

I love that the cupcake isn't too sweet

because the sweetness of the

frosting makes it just right.

Oh, yummy yum.

And this is how my husband

likes to eat his cupcakes, okay?

He likes to take off,

just kind of break off half the bottom,

or you can cut it off to keep it prettier,

and then, ooh, just sandwich it like this,

and then you have a cupcake sandwich.

It's pretty brilliant, I have to say.

Good job, honey.

Okay. We're gonna do this again.

Oh, this is so good.

The crumb is soft and

moist at the same time.

This is super decadent.

I mean, that buttercream

chocolate frosting

is everything right now. (laughs)

Oh, it's gonna become a new favorite.

Seriously, try this.

This is one of the easiest

chocolate cupcake recipes.

It's hard to mess this up, folks.

I mean, you mix together

the wet ingredients,

the dry ingredients, put them together,

and pop them in the oven.

Wham, bam. You got yourself some cupcakes.

Mmm. (laughs)

Okay, let's just do another

taste test for good measure,

just to make sure they're good, you know?

Mmm. Mmm.

I feel like I need a disguise.

Oh.

Mmm. Oh.

(man speaks indistinctly)

Mm-hmm. Oh, it's on my whiskers?

Oh, shoot.

I'm not used to having whiskers. (laughs)

Okay.

I'm gonna go and eat

this cupcake in private.
I hope you love this recipe.

Make it, and you will

get lots of compliments.

And we'll see you on our next video.