Finding the perfect chocolate cupcake...

[Stephanie Brim]

As my first post here, I thought I would share some frustration.

In my attempt to find a suitable chocolate cupcake for my daughter's first birthday, which is just over two months away, I have come up with not one I've actually liked. I've tried many recipes and a few things of my own, but I still can't get the texture quite right. I want a cupcake that's between a brownie and a normal cupcake in texture, and very chocolatey in taste. I want it moist but somewhat light. I've tried just cocoa, just baking chocolate, and a mixture of the two. I've tried all purpose flour and cake flour, but not mixing the two yet. I've used granulated sugar. I use only whole eggs.

I may try one more thing tonight. I have some baking chocolate left (6 ounces) and I may try replacing the cocoa with my semi-sweet baking chocolate to see how that goes.

It's frustrating. I know that I'll eventually find what I'm looking for if I just keep experimenting, but I only have a few weeks left. Any ideas as to what could give me the texture and flavor I want?

[Syrah]

Have you tried Abby Dodge's recipe for emergency blender cupcakes? I think they fit your bill.

[tmriga]

Try a recipe for black-bottom cupcakes, eliminating the cream cheese topping. If properly made, these are quite dark, fudgy, and moist.

I wish I had my cousin's recipe, but she took it with her when she passed. Her's were the best I ever tasted. Looking on the 'Net, the closest visual I found is the pics on the Smitten Kitchen blog. Deb, the author, uses David Liebovitz's recipe for her cupcakes. The difference is that my cousin used coffee in her BB's, which made them even darker. I am sure you do not want to offer caffeine to the kiddies. Oh, and she used white vinegar for her recipe.

Here's the link to the blog I mentioned -

http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/06/pot-bellies-black-bottoms/

Theresa

[Stephanie Brim]

I think I'll try David's recipe. I tried another black bottom recipe a while ago that was good, but had none of the flavor that I was going for until I added buttermilk for the water. It was a BIG change, and they tasted rather good. I'll half the recipe and make one half with coffee and the other with buttermilk and see how we fare.

May as well get the cream cheese, too. I have another idea that may work as well, and I'll need that.

[Stephanie Brim]

Okay, update. The Lebovitz recipe isn't what I was looking for either. I'm starting to think that I'm really going to have to do it by trial and error to get it right. It could be any number of things, though. The quality of my cocoa, the size of my eggs, the quality of my oil, etc. I don't know.

I'm on to something with the recent bake, though. I took the black bottom cupcakes and added the cream cheese into the cake mix itself instead of using it in the middle. It produced a rather moist, beautiful cupcake with a very tender, moist interior. I'm still working on the recipe, but I think it may work with a bit of tweaking. We'll see, and I'll keep updating this for anyone who wants to know.

The recipe I plan to try next is on my blog. I may try it tonight, but I really should bake that loaf of French bread I've been meaning to do.

[Marmish]

For chocolate cake, I use Alice Medrich's Fastest Fudge Cake. And I recently made Ed Kasky's double chocolate layer cake from The 150 Best American Recipes © 2006. It was very moist and very chocolately and made a very tall cake.

[TheFuzzy]

Stephanie,

My wife, the chocolate geek, says Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess has a recipe called "Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake" which makes good cupcakes.

[prairiegirl]

I make chocolate muffins all the time for my kids. I use freshly ground organic whole wheat but white flour is just fine.

approx 2 cups flur

1 T powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup sifted cocoa powder

approx 1/2 to 2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup oil (melted butter or safflower oil etc your choice)

2 eggs

cook for 20-25 minutes.

I always add white chocolate to this as my kids are chocoholics.

[prasantrin]

I was browsing around Fanny's blog, and there was a pictures of a cupcake that looked like it might fit your needs. It might be a bit dense, since it's really more of a brownie, but it looked delicious, anyway!

The recipe can be found here.

[Stephanie Brim]

Stephanie,

My wife, the chocolate geek, says Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess has a recipe called "Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake" which makes good cupcakes.

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I made this tonight with a few modifications and...wow. I'm speechless. It was good. I'll be doing it again, though, and mixing the whole thing with a wooden spoon because I think that the beaters got it a bit too light. I want it dense. However, it was moist and chocolatey and just what I want in a cake. Thanks!