October 18 is national chocolate cupcake day! I decided to make my “death by chocolate” layer cake into cupcakes to celebrate. It’s a great recipe and was perfect for cupcakes. I like to fill mine up to the top to create a nice crown but you can certainly make these smaller if preferred.
I’ve been experimenting with vegan chocolate cake recipes for years, but I think I’ve finally landed on a perfect recipe that’s moist but also has structure and doesn’t fall apart. I also wanted a cake with no special egg substitutes so applesauce is something most have on hand so that’s what we’re using here.
There’s a huge debate over using natural versus Dutch processed cocoa and which is best for baking. Although I prefer the Dutch variety, natural cocoa (like Hershey’s) found at most supermarkets will work fine. The Dutch process variety will result in a cake with a deeper chocolate flavor and color. Natural cocoa will have a more reddish tint and lighter chocolate flavor. Since this is death by chocolate, Dutch seems to be the way to go if you ask me. You can find a link at the bottom of this recipe for my Amazon store where I have the Dutch processed cocoa I buy listed if you cannot find it in a store near you.
For the frosting, I wanted a really decadent chocolate flavor. This is death by chocolate after all! Most recipes just use cocoa and you need to add a lot to get a serious punch of chocolate. Adding melted chocolate seemed like a good alternative but if I wanted a ganache, I’d make a ganache so I decided to split the difference and use both melted chocolate and cocoa powder to create a silky and delicious yet sturdy frosting.
If you want to make these in advance, you can certainly freeze the cupcakes by wrapping them well in plastic wrap then aluminum foil. I would let them come fully to room temperature before frosting however. You can freeze leftover frosted cupcakes as well using the same method but let’s be honest, who ever has leftovers?!
Vegan Death by Chocolate Cupcakes
18
servings30
minutes24
minutesThe most decadent vegan chocolate cupcakes you’ll ever eat!
Ingredients
- Chocolate Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 cup cocoa powder (natural or Dutch processed- see notes)
2 cups vegan granulated sugar
1 cup alternative milk (use your favorite)
1 tablespoon vinegar (white or apple cider)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
- Rich Chocolate Frosting
8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted
1/2 cup vegan butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups vegan confectioners sugar
1-2 tablespoons vegan milk or cream
pinch salt (only if using unsalted vegan butter)
Directions
- Chocolate Cake
- Whisk all dry ingredients except for the sugar together and set aside.
- Whisk the vinegar into the milk and set aside to curdle for a few
minutes. - In a large mixing bowl add the sugar, curdled milk, oil, applesauce and vanilla and mix well using a hand or stand mixer. Add the dry ingredients and mix to combine about 2 minutes. Add the boiling water last and mix well until combined. Mixture will be somewhat thin and glossy.
- Prepare a 12 cup cupcake pan with liners or by greasing and flouring them. If you want high crown cupcakes, fill them almost to the top. If you want them level with the tops of the liners then only fill 2/3 full.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Tap pan hard on a solid surface (like your counter) a few times to force any air bubbles to come to the surface. This will ensure an even crumb once baked.
- Bake for 24-27 minutes depending on how full they were. Use a cake tester or toothpick to test for doneness. It should come out clean and the cake should bounce back when tapped lightly on the top. If using a convection oven, your baking time might be reduced by up to 5 minutes. Don’t keep opening the oven door to check but use the light in the oven to see where you’re at. Once you’ve reached the minimum baking time, you can start checking for doneness. You will probably get 18 large and 24 smaller cupcakes from this recipe. Cool cupcakes completely then frost.
- Rich Chocolate Frosting
- Make sure your vegan butter is at room temperature.
- Mix butter and shortening together using a hand or stand mixer in a large bowl until fluffy about a minute.
- Melt chocolate carefully using a double boiler or the microwave. When using the microwave, it’s always best to stop before it’s completely melted and finish melting by stirring it together outside of the microwave. You’ll most likely be using a glass bowl so that retains heat and will continue to melt the chocolate. Microwave strengths vary so cook this in 30 second intervals. If your chocolate seizes up, you’ve over cooked it and unfortunately there’s no way to bring it back.
- Add the melted chocolate and vanilla to the bowl and mix for a minute or two making sure to scrape down the sides occasionally.
- Using a small strainer, sift the confectioners sugar and cocoa over the chocolate mixture. Mix well for a few minutes scraping down the sides. If mixture seems too thick, add milk or cream one tablespoon at a time until it’s thick and glossy. It needs structure to support the cake layers so don’t make it too thin.
- You can frost the cupcakes simply with a knife or use a pastry bag with a decorative tip to make them look fancy like I did. I also added chocolate biscuit pearls I found at Whole Foods that surprisingly contained no confectioners glaze. They use carnuba wax instead. You can use also decorate with sprinkles or chocolate shavings. The possibilities are endless!
Notes
- You can use natural or Dutch processed cocoa in this recipe. Dutch will be darker and richer and natural will be lighter. I prefer Dutch process.
- Use semisweet or bittersweet chocolate in the frosting. Often, I will use half of each kind to split the difference.
- You can use all vegan butter or all shortening in the frosting, but I find the combo of both to be the best of both worlds.
Did you make this?
Tag @bigboxveganeats on Instagram and hashtag it #bigboxvegan
Pin this recipe!
Follow @bigboxvegan on Pinterest
Like Big Box Vegan on Facebook!
Follow us on Facebook
