Deliciously moist chocolate cupcakes filled with whipped buttercream and topped off with a yummy chocolate ganache glaze.
Everyone will love these cream filled chocolate cupcakes and they’re perfect for birthday parties or any other celebration.
If you like the Hostess chocolate cupcakes with the cream in the middle and chocolate on the top, then you will definitely love these cupcakes.
These are a big step up from those as they’re made from scratch and SO much more delectable.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
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These are truly addicting and the fun thing is that you can adjust how much filling you put inside them. I like a lot of filling. 😉
You can even decorate the tops of the cupcakes any way you like. I added sprinkles to mine.
There are several steps to making these, so just know that going in.
It’s probably handy to either make the cupcakes or the whipped filling the day before you plan to put these all together. That will save you a bit of work instead of doing it all on the same day.
Ingredient Notes:
Now, let’s talk a little bit about just some of the ingredients for this recipe. (The entire ingredient list is in the recipe card lower in this post.)
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: You’ll want to use the natural unsweetened cocoa powder and not Dutch processed cocoa powder. This recipe calls for baking soda, therefor it needs to be the regular cocoa powder.
Basically the reasons vary for using different types of cocoa powder and are too long to go into here, but I have a post on what the difference is here: Which Cocoa Powder Should I Use?
Unsalted Butter: This cupcake recipe is easy in the fact that you don’t have to set your butter out ahead of time to come to room temp. You can just melt it in the microwave.
Whole Milk: Whole milk is best if you can get it. If you can only get 2%, then that’s okay…whole milk just has more fat in it and that helps with the moistness.
Hot Coffee: The cupcake recipe calls for hot coffee. You will NOT taste the coffee in the baked cupcakes, but it really does bring out the flavor of the chocolate. You could always just use hot water if you can’t stand the thought of coffee, or you don’t have any.
Whipped Buttercream: You’ll use my recipe for whipped buttercream to fill these cupcakes. It’s a recipe that uses butter and no shortening and I find it to taste much better than the usual cupcake fillings made with vegetable shortening or marshmallow cream.
You can find that recipe here: (I’ll also add it to the recipe card below.) Whipped Buttercream
Semi-sweet chocolate chips & heavy cream: For the glaze, you’ll be using semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed with heavy cream. Heavy cream is sometimes called whipping cream (not whipped cream). You’ll also need the heavy cream for the filling.
Just make sure to get heavy cream and not whipped cream or cool whip as that is not the same thing and the recipe will not turn out correctly if you use that.
Corn syrup: The glaze calls for a bit of corn syrup. If you don’t have this, it’s okay, but it really helps to give the glaze a good shine and helps it eventually firm up just enough, so that the chocolate glaze doesn’t stick to everything.
*The recipe card close to the end of this post will go into all the ingredients and amounts.
Mixing method:
The mixing method for the cupcakes isn’t difficult. It’s basically a one bowl cake.
The main thing is that you need to be very careful not to mix your batter too long. You don’t want to mix it for a couple minutes like a cake mix, or your cupcakes will come out very dense.
*The recipe card below will show all the steps.
Tips & FAQs:
Spoon the flour from the bag, into your measuring cups. You don’t want to scoop the flour, as that can pack too much flour into your measuring cup and add too much to your batter.
Dutch processed is different that unsweetened cocoa powder and would require other changes to the recipe in order for it to work correctly.
Also, make sure you’re using unsweetened cocoa powder and not the chocolate powdered drink mix.
Use real unsalted butter. If you can only get salted butter, you can use that, but omit the salt that the recipe calls for. It’s best not to use margarine though.
You’ll need to add that amount of liquid, but it doesn’t have to be coffee. You can use hot water instead, but definitely don’t omit the liquid all together.
Just know that adding the coffee will NOT make your cupcakes taste like coffee. It only brings out the flavor of the chocolate more.
Whole milk is just milk with more fat content in it. It’s best to use it instead of lower percent milk (like 1 or 2% milk) as the fat content in whole milk will help give you a more moist cake. If you can’t get whole milk, then you can sub with a lower percent.
No, you can omit it if you don’t have it, or can’t get it. The corn syrup just adds some shine to the glaze and will help it firm up a bit, so it’s not so messy.
No, you definitely don’t want to use Cool Whip or whipped cream. Heavy cream is literally just a heavy cream, which has more fat content in it than regular milk. Sometimes it’s called whipping cream, but not whipped cream…that’s different.
Heavy cream (or whipped cream) can be whipped up fluffy (you’ll do that for the filling), or added to the melted chocolate to make it creamy (you’ll use it for the chocolate glaze).
This is a big mistake as you only want to mix the batter until everything is well combined. If you mix it too long, then the cupcakes will be dense, not rise properly and may have a rubbery texture.
This is ideal as the glaze will sit on them better than if they had domed tops.
Just let them cool at room temperature.
I used a Wilton bismarck tip, but you can also just use a medium round tip. (I’ll have links to these in the supply list below.)
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Supplies & tools:
Ok let’s get to the recipe!
**By the way, this recipe was developed and tested using volume measurements (cups etc.). I do this because most people are used to measuring, instead of weighing. You may use the metric converter button to see the weight (gram) measurements. Those numbers are estimates on weight. Your results may vary a bit if you use the weight measurements.
Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder (not Dutch processed cocoa-see notes)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk (preferably whole milk)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup hot coffee (or hot water)
For the Filling:
- 1 recipe whipped buttercream (link to that recipe in the notes section of this recipe card)
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (this helps to add shine and to firm up the glaze)
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (sometimes called whipping cream – not whipped cream)
- sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
For the cupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add cupcake liners to two cupcake pans and spray them with non-stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar). Mix well with a whisk.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the melted butter, oil, vanilla, milk and eggs. Don't hadd the hot coffee or water yet. Mix with an electric mixer just until the ingredients are combined.
- Add the hot coffee (or hot water) and mix until well combined.
- Be careful not to over mix. Once it’s combined, stop mixing. You don’t want to mix for several minutes, that’s too long and that will make the cupcakes dense.
- Add batter to the prepared cupcake pans and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 18-20 minutes. The tops of the cupcakes will somewhat flatten out as they cool. This is an advantage as the chocolate glaze will sit nicely on it.
- Set cupcakes on wire racks to cool for about ten minutes, then take cupcakes out of the pans and let cool completely on racks before adding the filling and glaze.
For the filling:
- I used my recipe for fluffy whipped vanilla American buttercream for the filling. You can find that recipe in the notes section at the bottom of this recipe card.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, fill a large piping bag fitted with either a medium piping tip or a bismarck piping tip and insert the piping tip into the bottom or the top of the cupcake and squeeze slowly to add filling. Once filled, add glaze to the tops.
For the Glaze:
- In a bowl, add the chocolate chips, butter, cream and corn syrup. Melt in the microwave. Do this in small increments of about 30 seconds, or you could burn the chocolate. Once melted, mix until smooth. Either spoon the glaze onto the cupcakes or dip the tops of your cooled cupcakes into the glaze. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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