Space, the final frontier… These are the voyages of Sweetie Pie and Cupcakes and their mission to explore yummy new recipes, to seek out amazing eye-catching creations, and to boldly go where no man or woman has gone before in baking… These are space and Star Trek inspired cupcakes and they are deeeeelicious! You don’t have to suit up and travel to space to get these… they come together with ingredients you probably have in your home already!
My sweetie pie and I are addicted to anything Sci-fi. Yes, we are nerds. We love movies and TV shows that include space, time travel, teleporting and telepathy. My fascination with space goes way back to when I was in grade school. I remember after watching the movie Space Camp, I wanted to go into space so badly. I became obsessed with everything NASA and even joined a rocket building club in school. It wasn’t until I realized after traveling in an airplane and becoming motion sick that I decided to nix the Space Camp idea. I still watched the stars every night though and dreamed of one day going into space (and that looks like it might be possible before I die!) So in the meantime, I simply visualize and create space related art. I love painting star clusters and daydreaming about how the Earth must look from way out there!
These chocolate space themed cupcakes are so fun to make. You get to totally let go and be creative and dream up how space must look. There is no right or wrong way to create the galaxy swirls on tops of these cupcakes. The chocolate cupcakes themselves are little bites of Heaven. They are moist and cakey and filled with rich chocolate and coffee flavors. This recipe is my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. I use it for parties and events and rely on it because I always have the necessary ingredients in my kitchen!
As you can see, these chocolate cupcakes bake up perfectly with slightly puffy tops. You won’t need anything special to bake these cupcakes, just simple ingredients like flour, sugar, cocoa, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, oil, eggs and coffee. I recommend keeping these basic baking ingredients on hand in your kitchen as most desserts will call for these ingredients. You can play with substituting ingredients all you want, sometimes we’ll try honey instead of sugar or we’ll add fruit puree (raspberries or strawberries in the blender) into the recipe to sweeten it! Get creative and make these your own!
For the frosting, I simply separated out the butter cream into 4 bowls. I added dye in the colors of purple, blue, hot pink and black until I got rich, deep colors. And then I loaded a piping bag with a spoon or two full of each color and kept adding different colors of the frosting until the bag was full and ready to use. I used a Wilton #1M tip to create the galaxy swirl look. I gave each cupcake a light dusting of powdered sugar to produce the galaxy haze and then I piped on tiny white flecks to resemble stars. I had so much fun creating these and I hope you do too!
Here’s the recipe for the cupcakes and buttercream frosting:
| Prep Time | 1 1/2 Hours |
| Cook Time | 20 Minutes |
| Servings |
Cupcakes
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- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour We use the Trader Joe's Brand, All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Hershey's or Trader Joe's Cocoa Unsweetened Cocoa
- 1/4 cup Dark Chocolate Hershey's Cocoa (Or just add another 1/4 cup of the unsweetened)
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 Eggs
- 1 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Hot Coffee (Just allow to cool a bit)
- 1 cup Butter for Buttercream Frosting
- 4-5 cups Powdered Sugar for Buttercream Frosting
- 1 Tbsp Milk for Buttercream Frosting
- 1 tsp Vanilla for Buttercream Frosting
- Coloring Dye for Frosting
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with cupcake liners and spray with non-stick spray.
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir slowly to combine.
- To the dry ingredients, add 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 2 tsp of vanilla and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Turn mixer to lowest speed and slowly add the 1 cup of coffee (be careful not the splash). Once combined, use the 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop batter and fill each liner only 3/4 full (not to the top!)
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, checking with a toothpick or sharp knife (if it comes out clean, then the cupcakes are done). Remove from oven and let cool before frosting.
- To make the buttercream, beat the cup of butter for 2 minutes until softened and light. Slowly add 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla and a tablespoon of milk. Add more powdered sugar to reach desired consistency. Divide and color the icing as needed. Load piping bags with frosting and pipe onto the cupcakes!
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