I can’t believe I don’t have a regular chocolate cake recipe on my website! I do have a GF Chocolate cake that is really delicious. But if you don’t need to eat gluten-free (or someone who you are baking for) there is no need to buy more expensive ingredients that are harder to work with. So as soon as I realized I lacked a more simple and basic chocolate cake recipe, I got to work. And after a few failed tests, I got these decadent, chocolatey One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes.
I love making cake + cupcakes which is why I opened my custom cake business: Earthly Bakers Co. But I’m not a huge cake eater. I’ll take a few bites, but I typically want something that is richer like a brownie or a cookie if I’m in the mood for a sweet treat. But cake is the queen of celebration tables. What I love most about cake making is that there are hundreds of flavor combinations once you have the basic recipes down.
This Chocolate cake recipe is a simple + basic chocolate cake. It is moist, delicate and chocolatey. It pairs well with Vanilla Buttercream, Chocolate Buttercream or Salted Maple Peanut Buttercream. Or a combination of the three as I have done with this batch.
Recipe Notes
While this recipe is really easy, there are, as always, at couple things to watch out for. Use granulated sugar here. But, if all you have is organic sugar (which tends to be a little coarser) then combine the sugar with the plant milk first and whisk really well before adding other ingredients. This helps the sugar dissolve. I made a batch of these cupcakes with organic sugar and did not do this step and the cupcakes came out a bit gritty. Not ideal.
The other one is once the flour is added do not overmix. Whisk only until the flour is incorporated and the mixture is homogenous. Thats why I add the coco powder in first and by itself. Cocoa takes more whisking to incorporate. So before the flour is added whisk to your hearts content. But after the flour is added, do as little as possible.
These One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes can either be cupcakes or cake layers. It will made 3 6″ cake layers and 2 8″ cake layers. (These Fat Daddio Brand are my favorite cake pans). The bake times will vary slightly as full cakes.
One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 6 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/3 Cup Canola Oil
- 1 Cup Unsweetened Plant Milk of Choice I used So Delicious Coconut Milk
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice or Vinegar
- 2 tsp Instant Espresso Powder (or Instant Coffee)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375* F. Line a muffin tin with liners or just grease the tin- which ever you prefer.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar, plant milk, canola oil, vanilla, lemon juice and espresso powder. Whisk well to combine.
- Place a sifter on top of the liquids bowl, being sure to not dip the sifter into the liquid, and sift in the cocoa powder. Whisk well to combine.
- Now add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda into the sifter and sift into the bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Portion batter into the lined or greased cupcake tin. Fill each liner about 2/3 of the way full.
- Bake in a 375* oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the middle cupcakes comes out clean. Mine were perfect in 20 minutes.
- Let cool completely before decorating!
Let me know how you like this recipe!
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