After listening all day to Quinn saying that we hadn’t anything sweet in the house in days, I finally caved late last night and made these cupcakes. The recipe appealed to me because it was simple, quick, and mixed in one bowl. Their simplicity, in preparation as well as flavor, interested me enough to crank up my mixer at such a late hour.
These are the only cupcakes you’ll find thus far on BoB. I am not a cupcake maker for one simple reason. Icing. I don’t enjoy trying to make icing look pretty. I just don’t have the patience. Thus explains my love of the Bundt cake. These cupcakes, however, are simply adorned with confectioner’s sugar. Plus, the cakes are loaded with vanilla in addition to a chunk of bittersweet chocolate hidden inside.
I used vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla beans. I fell in love with vanilla bean paste when I made pound cakes during the holidays. It’s a great alternative to vanilla beans, and it’s easier to have on-hand than the beans themselves.
I do offer one helpful hint for baking these. When adding the chocolate to the batter, do not try to cover the chocolate completely with batter. The cakes will rise and cover it. If you push it in too far, it will settle to the bottom and maybe even come out of the bottom of the cakes. I tried a couple of methods of putting in the chocolate, and the best I could do was just to lay the chocolate on top of the batter. It still settles to the bottom, but it did stay inside the cupcakes. How Martha got hers to look so lovely inside I just don’t know.
We loved these chocolate/vanilla cupcakes. The taste reminded me of vanilla bean ice cream. With chocolate sauce, of course. While they didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to aesthetically, the flavor is fantastic. A definite winner for my first cupcake venture.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large egg whites
- 3/4 cup mik
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 12 2-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Line 12 cups of a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg whites, milk, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds. Mix until combined.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until combined.
Fill prepared muffins cups about 3/4 full. Insert a piece of chocolate into the center of each, pressing down slightly to cover with batter. Bake 22-25 minutes, or until pale golden brown.
Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove from pan and dust with confectioners' sugar.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living.
January 10th, 2008 at 3:43 am
Love the photo! I think cupcakes are rather tasty with just a sprinkle of pwd sugar & I agree…frosting all them can be a messy chore (unless you assign it to a child–ha!) I have been tempted to buy the vanilla bean paste & your suggestion has convinced me!
January 10th, 2008 at 6:04 am
They look scrumptious, Jen!
I’m not a fond of buttercream, so I usually go for chocolate icing or ganache. I prefer simpler cakes, though.
And I have bought vanilla paste (I can’t find it here, luckily for me King Arthur delivers in Brazil) and can’t wait for my box to arrive…
January 10th, 2008 at 7:45 am
I too fell in love with vanilla bean paste- There’s nothing better than seeing those gorgeous flecks in your baked goods, and it just tastes so much more flavorful than the extract.
The cupcakes look and sound wonderful, and filling the center with chocolate is a great excuse to leave off the fussy icing off the top!
January 10th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Sounds like a really good one–and these definitely don’t need icing. I recently tried filling muffins with peanut butter and my problem was that it exploded out the top:)
Julie
January 10th, 2008 at 10:37 am
JEP, I love that vanilla bean paste. I think you’ll be pleased.
Patricia, I would be lost without King Arthur’s deliveries. If not for them, I would have to do without a lot of things.
Hannah, those little flecks make me giddy!
Julie, I can empathize with your cupcake filling problems. A few of these lost the chocolate completely out of the bottom. I’m glad I experimented a bit to get some of them to work.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Wow, so simple yet so utterly irresistible! I agree, those cupcakes with huge domes of buttercream look cute but are kind of sickly to eat. Yours on the other hand I could definitely dig into!
January 10th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I’m so out of the loop — I’ve never seen vanilla bean paste before! I’m going to look out for it; it sounds like something I would like to work with.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Based on Julie’s peanut butter experience, I think we should try them again but slathering a little peanut butter on the bottom of the chocolate. Maybe the two forces would cancel each other out?
January 10th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
These sound delicious! I’m going to have to start looking for vanilla bean paste…
January 10th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Anita, those big tall cupcakes are pretty if not practical to eat. Maybe someday I’ll be brave and try them.
Alicia, I love, love, love vanilla bean paste. Probably my favorite baking find of last year.
Quinn, you are such an engineer.
Deborah, if you can’t find the vanilla bean paste, try King Arthur Flour’s website or Williams Sonoma.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I need to find some vanilla bean paste! And I’m with you, frosting is a pain!
January 10th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
These sound scrumptious and look divine.
Love your blog, great recipes and fab photos.
We have featured you as our Blog of the Week. Here is the link if you would like to have a look.
http://www.only-cookware.com/blog/2008/01/10/bake-or-break-blog-of-the-week/
Regards
Wanda
http://www.only-cookware.com
January 10th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Brilynn, it seems that lots of people feel the same way we do about frosting. I’m glad I’m not alone.
Thanks, Wanda! How wonderful!
January 10th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I think you can keep the chocolate from sinking by tossing them with flour before adding, it works well with fruit and I have seen it done before with chocolate chips. Maybe that would help?
January 10th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Megan, thanks for the tip! I’ll have to remember that one.
January 10th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Even seen I bought 1/4lb of vanilla beans from ebay few months ago I have been using them a lot in my bake. I think I may switch to vanilla bean paste after my stash runs out. Love the flecks in your cupcake.
January 10th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Mandy, that’s a lot of vanilla beans!
January 11th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Hi Jenn
I love your page. I am going to make these when I get up this afternoon.
January 11th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Hendria, I hope you enjoy them!
January 14th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Your photos are awesome!
January 14th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Thanks, Kimberley!
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Try baking the cupcakes for a few minutes, then stick the chocolate in them. This may keep the chocolate from sinking to the bottom.
It’s what I do when I make “lucky penny” sheet cake for St. Patrick’s Day for my class.
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Thanks, Julie! That sounds like a good idea.
January 28th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I hope you give the cupcake more of a chance. You don’t have to do pretty piping to make the frosting look nice. Sometimes I just shmeer it on and it works just fine. Yours sound great. I’ve never used vanilla bean paste and would like to check it out.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Thanks, Stef! I’m sure this won’t be my last cupcake attempt. They’re far too good to ignore!
April 1st, 2009 at 3:46 pm
These cupcakes sound awesome! I love this website! I am going to try these cupcakes this weekend! I am going to bake them in icecream cones! I’m sure you have seen those cupcakes baked in icecream cones! Well this sounds like the perfect batter for the icecream cones! I’m so excited to try it! I’m baking them for a little league fund raiser!
April 1st, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Oh, a note about frosting! I totally blew myself away this weekend, because I had not made icing before. My mom had always made it and sadly she passed away a year ago. So, my first attempt turned out great! I was so happy! took 1 cup of confectioners sugar, 2-3 TBS of milk, 1 TBS butter, 1 half squeezed lemon juice, grated lemon rind of an organic lemon (organic b/c i want to avoid the pesticides). I mixed it all together until it was a good consistency. It was perfect for my lemon poppyseed muffins I made for an afternoon get together!
January 29th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Love this blog great pictures and thanks for the info on Chocolate-Filled Cupcakes ymm…………