Chocolate Birthday Cake Cupcakes

30 MIN PREP TIME

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20 MIN BAKE TIME

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50 MIN TOTAL

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30 MIN PREP TIME 〰️ 20 MIN BAKE TIME 〰️ 50 MIN TOTAL 〰️

It’s not a birthday without sprinkles and these Chocolate Birthday Cake Cupcakes are the best edible gift. They are simple and easy to make with a soft, tender and deliciously moist sponge and a divine chocolate fudge icing. Colourful birthday sprinkles are the perfect finishing touch. I guarantee these will be your favourite Birthday Cupcake recipe and used time and time again.

Why you will love this recipe:

• Easy and quick | This no fuss recipe comes together really quickly and includes ingredients you’re likely to already haven your baking cupboard.

• Perfect texture and flavour | Rather than butter these are oil based cupcakes which gives them a much lighter texture with so much more moisture. The chocolate flavour comes from rich chocolate cocoa powder and dark chocolate chips that create perfect little melted chocolate pockets when you take a bite.

• Fun and colourful for birthdays and more | Every birthday or celebration deserves sprinkles and the more colour the better. These cupcakes can be made without the sprinkles or if you’d prefer you could decorate them with chopped nuts instead. Either way they will make any recipient a happy customer.

Ingredients:

To make these Chocolate Birthday Cake Cupcakes you will need ingredients that you are likely to already have in your cupboards at home, but there may be a couple of specific extras you need such as the sprinkles.

Golden Caster Sugar | Golden caster sugar has a delicate caramel flavour which works really well with the chocolate in these cupcakes.

Plain Flour | Plain Flour vs Self-Raising Flour as you will be adding the raising agents separately. The batter will seem super wet but this is a very moist cake, super wet is what we are after.

Cocoa Powder | The cocoa powder gives these cupcakes the intense, chocolate flavour we love. Sift in the cocoa powder with the flour so it’s evenly combined with all the ingredients. Choose a good quality one for a decent rich flavour.

Baking powder | Before adding your baking powder, check it is in date by putting a tsp into bowl and adding approx 50ml boiling water. If it bubbles excitingly then it’s in date. If it doesn’t react then they won’t be any good to you in these cupcakes.

Whole Milk | Using whole milk over semi skimmed will result in a really creamy and moist cake but you can use whatever you have in the fridge and a dairy free alternative will work well too.

Vegetable Oil | Oil based cakes have a really tender, light and moist texture. Vegetable oil has a neutral flavour so don’t detract from the rich chocolate taste.

Large Egg | Use the best-quality eggs you can find and make sure they are at room temperature. 

Vanilla | Vanilla is the secret to all delicious baking. It enhances all the other flavours in the recipe.

Dark Chocolate Chips | Ideally you want anything from 70% or above but you can use milk chocolate if you prefer they will just be more visible when you bite into the cupcake.

70% Dark Chocolate | The better the quality the more rich and delicious your bake. Ideally you want anything from 70% or above.

Double Cream | This will give you a deliciously creamy and thick chocolate ganache for the chocolate fudge icing that tops the cupcakes.

Icing Sugar | Icing sugar will add sweetness to your Chocolate Fudge Icing but it will also stabilise the mixture so that it’s thick enough to pipe onto the cupcakes.

Funfetti Sprinkles | You can make these cupcakes without the sprinkles but personally I think Funfetti Sprinkles put the Birthday in Birthday Cupcakes. You can buy the ones I use or you can choose any alternative, along as they are colourful it should work well. If you don’t want to use sprinkles then you could choose to use chopped nuts or freeze dried raspberries.

How to make chocolate birthday cake cupcakes?

1. Mix the dry ingredients together | In a medium bowl combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together in a bowl, then add the chocolate chips and fold them through until coated.

2. Combine the wet ingredients | In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla until smooth.

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients | Make a well in the bowl of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Fold the two together until just combined and you have a wet batter.

4. Spoon into cupcake cases and bake | Divide the batter equally between the cupcake cases (I like to use an ice cream scoop so they all have an even amount) then bake for 18-20 minutes at 170C.

How to make chocolate fudge icing?

1. Chop the dark chocolate | Make sure the chocolate is chopped evenly and add to a medium bowl

2. Heat the double cream | Heat up the double cream gently in a pan until it starts to bubble then pour over the chopped chocolate and leave for a few minutes.

3. Whisk in the icing sugar | Add the icing sugar then whisk everything together until you have a smooth chocolate ganache. Leave aside to let it cool and thicken to a peanut butter consistency.

4. Whip then decorate | Whisk the ganache together once thickened to give it some additional volume then add it to a piping and pipe generous swirls onto each cupcake.

What makes these birthday cake cupcakes?

Sprinkles! And of course chocolate.

You can find colourful sprinkles like these in most shops but the particular Funfetti Sprinkles used in this recipe are most commonly used in the US. They are perfect as they’re more vibrant in colour and don’t fade or leak into the bake if you’re using them in a cupcake or cookie mixture.

Luckily you won’t need to travel to America to get your own as they are available online on Etsy, Ebay or Amazon.

Find the ones I buy here.

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Chocolate Birthday Cake Cupcakes

Servings: 12

Author: My Kitchen Drawer

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 50 Min

It's not a birthday without sprinkles and these Chocolate Birthday Cake Cupcakes are the best edible gift. They are simple and easy to make with a soft, tender and deliciously moist sponge and a divine chocolate fudge icing. Colourful birthday sprinkles are the perfect finishing touch. I guarantee these will be your favourite Birthday Cupcake recipe and used time and time again.

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Ingredients

For the chocolate fudge cupcakes

• 125 g plain flour
• 150 g golden caster sugar
• 50 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg large, room temperature
• 100 ml neutral oil vegetable oil, sunflower oil, canola oil
• 60 ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 100 ml hot water

For the Chocolate Fudge Icing

• 100 g dark chocolate good quality 70%
• 50 ml double cream
• 250 g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

To decorate

• 50 g Funfetti sprinkles

Instructions

For the chocolate fudge cupcakes

1. Line a 12-hole cupcake tray with cupcake liners and preheat your oven to 160℃
2. In a large bowl, combine the plain flour, cocoa powder, golden caster sugar, bicarbonate soda, baking powder and mix them together until evenly incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, add the egg, oil, mill and vanilla and whisk them together until combined.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, then add the hot water and carefully whisk it all together until all the dry flour is combined.
5. Use a ice cream scoop or tablespoon to distribute the batter between the cupcake cases evenly then bake the cupcakes for 18-20 minutes until risen and springy to touch.

For the chocolate fudge icing

1. Chop the dark chocolate finely and add it to a medium bowl.
2. Heat the cream up in a pan gently over a medium heat until it starts to boil. Once boiling remove it from the heat and pour on top of the chopped dark chocolate.
3. Leave it for a minute or two, then whisk everything together making sure all the chocolate has melted. Add the icing sugar then mix it into the ganache.
4. Cover the ganache in cling-film then put into the fridge and leave it to firm for an hour until it has a peanut butter consistency.
5. Remove the ganache from the fridge and whip it with a electric hand whisk until thickened and slightly aerated.
6. Add the icing to a piping bag and pipe generously on top of the chocolate cupcakes.
7. Finish with a sprinkle of Funfetti sprinkles and serve.

Equipment

1 12 hole cupcake tin

1 Measuring Jug

1 Balloon whisk

Nutrition Facts

Calories

335

Fat

14 g

Carbs

51 g

Sugar

37 g

Protein

4 g

Disclaimer: The information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or diagnosis. The nutritional information may vary based on the ingredients used, their freshness, and how they are prepared.

https://mykitchensdrawer.com/recipes-blog/chocolate-birthday-cake-cupcakes

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Other birthday bakes you’ll love:

6 Inch Funfetti Cake

Birthday Cake Rolls

Funfetti Brookie

I would love it if you tagged me @mykitchendrawer on Instagram if you make this recipe. It’s the biggest honour to see my recipes come to life in your kitchen and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a message or let’s chat in the comments. Happy baking!