Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Chocolate cupcakes with a white frosting and rainbow sprinkles on a cake stand.

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These are the best chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! The chocolate cupcakes are super soft and moist thanks to a combination of oil and sour cream. The cream cheese frosting is made without butter, so it's super light and airy. These cupcakes are great for birthday parties, bake sales and the holidays!

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: cupcakes

Calories: 247kcal

Author: Ella Gilbert

Equipment

12 cup cupcake pan

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa powder dutch processed
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 large eggs room temperature
½ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup sour cream room temperature
1 teaspoon espresso powder
½ cup hot water

Cream Cheese Frosting

⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup heavy cream cold
¾ cup cream cheese cold

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Make cupcakes

Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C and place 16-18 cupcake liners in your cupcake pans.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
1 cup all purpose flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 cup sugar
In a mug or small cup, mix together the espresso powder and hot water until the espresso powdered has dissolved. Set aside.
1 teaspoon espresso powder, ½ cup hot water
In a large jug, whisk the eggs, oil, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth.
2 large eggs, ½ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup sour cream
Pour the wet mixture into the flour, stirring until it is just about smooth - we don't want to over mix the batter! Then pour in the hot coffee and mix until smooth.
Fill the cupcake liners so they're ¾ full and bake for 18-20 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool for 15 minutes in the tray, then take them out and place on a cooling rack.

Make Frosting

I recommend chilling your mixing bowl for about an hour before using!
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, whisk the heavy cream, salt, sugar and vanilla on medium-low for 2 minutes. The sugar needs to have completely dissolved.
⅓ cup granulated sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ cup heavy cream
Increase the speed to high and whisk for 2 minutes, until it looks very thick like Greek yogurt.
While the mixer is running on a low speed, add the cream cheese a tablespoon at a time. Turn off the mixer, and scrape the entire bowl to make sure no cream cheese is left on the side. Turn the speed to high, and whip for 3 minutes until smooth.
¾ cup cream cheese
Frost your cupcakes and enjoy! I used a Wilton 1M piping tip.

Notes

My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way.

I make sure that all of my ingredients for the cupcakes are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients (including the sour cream!) before you start baking. For the frosting, keep the heavy cream and cream cheese cold!

Salt: If you don't have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt.

Sour Cream: If you don't have sour cream you can substitute it for Greek yogurt or full fat yogurt.

Cocoa Powder: I'm using dutch processed cocoa powder (not sure what you have? Check the ingredients. If it says 'acidity regulator' or mentions 'alkali', then it's dutch processed).

Storage: Store the cupcakes in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating.

Nutrition