Halloween Double Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

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Nothing says Trick-or-Treat like a batch of Chocolate Ganache filled Chocolate Cupakes! It’s my brother’s birthday this weekend and his favorite is chocolate, so I thought, what the hey, I’ll just go ahead and make a big batch of cupcakes this week for Halloween and as a special treat for the family party! I have a favorite chocolate cupcake recipe that is to die for, and I rely on it as my go-to recipe for anyone who mentions they love chocolate. This one is pretty much made up of chocolate and more chocolate and then when you think you have added enough chocolate you add more!!!

I found this cute spider cupcake set made by Wilton while shopping for supplies, and I got so excited that I felt like I might pee on myself, so I figured if they made me smile that much just seeing them in the box then putting them together was going to be even more fun! Sometimes you need a little creative inspiration, and what better way to spark some ideas than to walk down the Halloween isle at the store. This spider set leapt out at me and it looked super simple to put together, so I went for it!

Okay, so let’s talk about the chocolate cupcake again… this is absolutely the most deeeliciously moist cupcake recipe that I have ever made. When it bakes up, the cupcake itself domes up, and yet the cake part is so moist that it melts in your mouth. The flavor of the cupcake is enhanced by a wonderfully rich dollup of ganache filling that is dropped into the batter of each cup before you put the pan in the oven. This is an optional step, but I would highly recommend that you do not forego this step.

Then comes the fun part, decorating the cupcakes with frosting. I prefer using Wilton’s recipe for chocolate frosting whenever I need a frosting that stands up for design making, but you can use any favorite chocolate frosting recipe for these cupcakes it would only accentuate the flavor! For these Halloween treats, I made a batch of plain white frosting to start and then cut the frosting in half and added cocoa powder and some water to darken the frosting for the spiders. I left some white icing to later color with orange and green to make some pumpkins.

The spiders were super simple to put together. Just pipe black chocolate icing with Wilton tip #1M starting around the edges and work your way to the middle. Then add the eyes and legs to the cupcake and voila, done!

For the pumpkins, I used Wilton tip #18 and started around the edges and worked my way to the middle. Then I used the black chocolate icing (from the spiders) to pipe eyes and a mouth, just touching the black icing on in dollups for the mouth. Finish off the pumpkin with a few green leaves for his head using Wilton tip #352 and you’re done!

I had a few cupcakes leftover and I always like to have three different designs when I do a batch of cupcakes, so I decided to pipe the rest of the black, chocolate icing on the remaining cupcakes and then used the green icing remaining to write out the word BOO! The bright green color on top of the black icing looked crazy spooky!

And now for the super delicious recipe! Be sure to like it on Facebook and leave a comment! If you would like to learn basic cupcake decorating tricks, try Wilton’s Decorating Basics Sets! They are so easy and fun!

INGREDIENTS:

For the Ganache Filling:
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

For the Cupcakes:
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
⅓ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
¾ cup hot coffee
¾ cup bread flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Buttercream Frosting (stiff consistency):
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7-8 teaspoons water (add a few at a time until spoon stands up)
1 lb. pure cane confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon Meringue powder (if egg allergy, eliminate Meringue powder)
Pinch of salt

(Make the buttercream frosting first and then divide it to make half of it chocolate)

Add the following
Add 3/4 cup cocoa powder or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares melted
1-2 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the Ganache Filling: Place the chopped chocolate, heavy cream and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Heat until the mixture is warm to the touch. Whisk until smooth, then refrigerate until just barely chilled, no longer than 30 minutes.

2. Make the Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard-size muffin pan with liners. Place the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Pour the hot coffee over the mixture and whisk until smooth. Refrigerate mixture for 20 minutes.

3. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

4. Whisk the oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla extract into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth. Add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin pan cups. Place one slightly rounded teaspoon of ganache filling on top of each cupcake. Bake until the cupcakes are set and just firm to the touch, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and place on the wire rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.

6. Make the Frosting: Cream the shortening, vanilla extract and water. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium until all mixed together. Blend an additional minute or two until creamy but stiff enough for a spoon to stand.. Divide the frosting and put some frosting aside to color orange (for pumpkins) and green (for leaves and lettering). With the remaining frosting, add cocoa powder and a tablespoon of water and blend until smooth again. Add black food coloring to the chocolate frosting (for spiders and pumpkin faces).

Enjoy!

SWEETIE PIE AND CUPCAKES FAVORITE PRODUCTS

WILTON SPIDER CUPCAKE DECORATING SET

INGREDIENTS:

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