Ingredients
Cupcakes:
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup ⅔ canola oil vegetable oil would also be fine
1 cup milk
2 eggs lightly beaten (preferably room temperature)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup very hot water
2 Tbsp instant coffee
6 oz premium dark chocolate chopped into very small pieces.* I use a Ghirardelli baking bar
Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups heavy cream
Chocolate syrup for drizzling
2 oz dark chocolate finely chopped or mini chocolate chips . if desired
Recipe Notes
* Chop the chocolate into teeny tiny pieces–smaller than mini chocolate chips. I used a large knife and “minced” the chocolate as if I were mincing garlic. If you do not make the chocolate small enough, it will sink to the bottom of the cupcakes, you want it to be dispersed throughout the cupcake (though, trust me, a few pieces on the bottom isn’t anything to cry over). The heat from the added coffee will also help shrink the pieces a bit.
**This recipe makes enough batter for just over 24 cupcakes. You could either discard the excess batter (blasphemy!) or wait for your pans to cool and bake the extras. In my case, I used the leftover batter to make a few mini cupcakes.
Instructions