The most delicious chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Every single time I bake something with chocolate I use Finnish Fazer's baking chocolate. I think that it's the best chocolate you could use, and by using it I have always succeeded very well. These cupcakes are one of the best things you could imagine, if you're a friend of chocolate - and tell me someone who isn't. Tomorrow we are going to celebrate the end of the school year with my friends, and I want to surprise them by bringing these cupcakes :) I hope they like them.

This is the third time I'm baking these chocolate cupcakes, but every time I have changed the recipe a bit and this time I have changed it to make the cupcakes super delicious and chocolaty. You know in Finland we are used to say that the third time tells the truth, and I think with these cupcakes it fits perfectly. And I just love cream cheese frostings, so I thought that this time I'll make one. And I have to admit that I tasted the frosting and it was superior good! And the dough also...Tomorrow I'll have a proper taste. But these cupcakes came out quite pretty, don't you think?

Ingredients:

114 g Bittersweet dark Chocolate broken into small pieces

240 ml all-purpose flour

60 ml unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

120 ml milk

60 ml cup water

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil (olive or rape oil)

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

110 g Bittersweet dark Chocolate, broken into small pieces

75 g butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

320 ml powdered sugar

Directions:

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Paper-line 22 (small, 14 big) muffin cups.

2. Melt the chocolate in a metal dish attached to a pot with boiling water. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

3. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Combine milk and water in small glass measure. Beat brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl on high for 2 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate. Beat flour mixture into creamed mixture alternately with milk mixture.

4. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

5. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.Don't over bake them, it's better if they're a bit soft. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

For the cream cheese frosting:

1. Melt the chocolate the same way as before, stirring just until melted. Cool to room temperature.

2. Melt the butter in microwave, until it's liquid like. Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla extract with the cream cheese, add the melted chocolate and butter. Mix well to make an even icing. It should be light and fluffy.

3. Spread the frosting over the cupcakes with a spatula.

For decoration you can grate some dark chocolate, or you can us your imagination and figure out some other decorations as coconut flakes or nonpareils...

Chocolate cupcakes with turkish yogurt & chocolate frosting

I made these cupcakes for the New Year's Eve, and I have to say that they were absolutely gorgeus, very rich and so lovely chocolatey that they melted in your mouth! I used the same dough as before when I've made these, but the frosting was different, I had this idea to add some turkish yogurt to it and it really became good, it was so much better than before! And for the decorating I used both dark and white chocolate, so it looked even more prettier. This dough makes eighteen big cupcakes, and the frosting is enough just for them.

And this is my darling cat Diana, who admired the cupcakes for a long time.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

250g dark chocolate (50-60% cocoa)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup soy milk

1/2 cup water

2 cups packed light brown sugar (muscovado)

1cup vegetable (olive) oil

6 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

100g butter, melted

4-5 dl powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g dark chocolate (50-60% cocoa)

about 4 dl turkish yogurt

For the decorating about 100g white and 100g dark chocolate

To make the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F (180°C). Paper-line 18 big muffin cups.

2. Melt the chocolate in a metal dish attached to a pot with boiling water. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

3. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Combine soymilk and water in small glass measure. Beat brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl on high for 2 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate. Beat flour mixture into creamed mixture alternately with soymilk mixture.

4. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

5. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

6. Frost with turkish yogurt & chocolate frosting.

For the turkish yogurt & chocolate frosting:

1. Melt the chocolate the same way as before, stirring just until melted. Cool to room temperature.

2. Melt the butter in microwave, until it's liquid like. Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, add the melted chocolate and butter, then add to the turkish yogurt, mix until smooth.

3. Put spoonfuls with a big spoons on top of the cupcakes, decorate with grated white and dark chocolate.

Date cupcakes for Christmas

I wanted to bake cupcakes suitable for Christmas, the only problem was to find a good recipe, and a recipe that seemed to be interesting. When I couldn't find one, I decided to make it myself. I love dates and we had a lot of them in the kitchen cupboard, that's why I finally made these lovely, lovely and addicting date cupcakes with créme fraîche glazing. The outcome was excellent. For the cupcake dough I used an ancient datecake recipe, a bit modified. The glaze I made up myself, and I'm quite proud of the whole combination, it was so wonderful. You know I've always thought that only chocolate can "take you to heaven", but these date cupcakes verify the fact that date can do that as well. I wish you enjoyable moments with these cupcakes (like I very much had) and be careful, you might get addicted!

Ingredients:

makes about 25

For the cupcake dough:

400g dates (remove the seeds or use seedless)

240 ml water

240 ml white sugar (you could add less, because the dates are so sweet)

240 ml white flour

2 eggs

200g salted butter

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze:

200g créme fraîche

1 dl dates, chopped into very tiny chunks

5 dl powdered sugar

1/2 dl milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

25g melted butter

For the decoration:

25 sliced seedless dates

To make the dough:

1. Chop the dates with scissors into very tiny chunks (the smaller the chunks are the better the dough will become). Put the chopped dates into a big kettle with water and sugar. Boil the mixture to soften the dates, about 5-10 minutes. Take away from the heat. 

2. Cool down the mixture a bit, add the butter and then the eggs (first break them in a cup). Be careful not to add the eggs into a too hot mixture, because the egg whites might congeal). Mix well.

3. Mix the dry ingredients with each other and add them into the date mixture, mix well. 

4. Deal the dough into about 25 cups (it depends on the size of the cup, I had quite small cups). Leave some space for them for the rising, fill about 3/4 of the cups. 

5. Bake in the 200°C oven for 10-15 minutes, or until ready. Cool down before adding the glaze on top. 

To make the glaze:

1. Mix the créme fraîche, tiny date chunks, milk, lemon juice, melted butter and powdered sugar together in a bowl, mix well to create a smooth glaze. With spoon, put about two spoonfuls on top of the cupcakes. 

2. Then decorate with sliced dates. Enjoy! And remember to store them in the fridge. 

When you desire chocolate...

I can only say that these cupcakes were perfect. I have never made cupcakes before, and was suspicious about them. But all my assumptions are now gone, and I think I might try some other cupcake recipes too...And these are excellent for those who love chocolate and need something sweet, but I have to say that the cupcakes were so sweet that two was the absolute maximum. But of course you can eat more, if you're on that mood...:)

Super moist and chocolaty cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 oz (114 g) Bittersweet dark Chocolate broken into small pieces

1 (240 ml) cup all-purpose flour

1/4 (60 ml) cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 (120 ml) cup soymilk

1/4 (60 ml) cup water

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil (olive oil)

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting:

4 oz. Bittersweet dark Chocolate, broken into small pieces

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 (320 ml) cups powdered sugar

Directions:

FOR CUPCAKES:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Paper-line 20 (small, 14 big) muffin cups.

2. Melt the chocolate in a metal dish attached to a pot with boiling water. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

3. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Combine soymilk and water in small glass measure. Beat brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl on high for 2 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate. Beat flour mixture into creamed mixture alternately with soymilk mixture.

4. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

5. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

6. Frost with Bittersweet Chocolate Butter cream Frosting.

For Bittersweet Chocolate Butter cream Frosting:

1. Melt the chocolate the same way as before, stirring just until melted. Cool to room temperature.

2. Melt the butter in microwave, until it's liquid like. Mix the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, add the melted chocolate and butter. If icing is too thick, add milk, 1 teaspoon at at a time, to desired consistency. It should be light and fluffy. Makes one and half a cups.

For decoration you can grate some dark chocolate, or you can us your imagination and figure out some other decorations...