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Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Servings: 14 cupcakes
Author: Gina @ The Passionate Pantry

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS FOR BOTH FLAVOURED CUPCAKES WITH ADAPTIONS NOTED

  • 150 g light olive oil
  • 75 g buttermilk
  • 75 g full cream milk
  • 1 x 59g egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

  • 240 g white spelt flour / or plain flour
  • 40g raw cacao powder / or cocoa powder for chocolate cupcakes
  • or
  • 40g custard powder for vanilla cupcakes
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp sea salt flakes or ¼ tsp fine sea salt
  • 330 g golden caster sugar

  • 150 g boiling water from just boiled kettle

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ICING WITH ADAPTIONS NOTED

  • 250g 60-70% dark chocolate for dark chocolate icing
  • or
  • 250g white chocolate for white chocolate icing

  • 100 g butter room temperature
  • 250 g cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes

  • 500 g icing sugar

Instructions

METHOD FOR CUPCAKES

  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced
  • Place cupcake liners into your muffin tray … recipe makes 14 so you will use two trays, one with 12 and the other with 2
  • In a mixing bowl stir together with a whisk the flour, cacao or custard powder, baking powder, salt and golden caster sugar (I use a whisk because it helps to incorporate the ingredients together more fully than with a spoon)
  • In another bowl stir together with the whisk (don’t beat, just stir to incorporate) the light olive oil, buttermilk, milk, egg and vanilla bean paste
  • Boil the kettle and place 150g boiled water into a jug
  • You will now have three containers: the dry ingredients, the wet ingredients, and the boiled water
  • Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and stir (not beat) with the whisk, add ½ the boiling and continue stirring, then add another 1/3 of dry and stir, then add the last ½ of the boiling water, stir, and finally the last 1/3 of the dry and stir
  • Pour mixture into cupcake liners filling up to 2/3rd full (I find it easier to dispense some of the batter into a smaller jug and fill the cupcake liners this way … saves having too quick a flow from the larger bowl … for this I use a metal milk jug from the coffee machine which has a great spout for pouring)
  • Bake for 12 minutes, turn tray around and bake for a further 8 minutes (it takes 20 minutes to bake in my oven)
  • Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing to a cake rack to cool completely before icing

METHOD FOR ICING

  • Break chocolate into pieces (if it is not already in small pellets)
  • Place into TM bowl and mill 5-10 seconds (depending on size of pieces) x speed 9
  • Scrape around sides, then melt 6 minutes / 50 degrees / speed 3 (pause and scrape after 3 minutes if the chocolate is not melting uniformly … you want it to be completely melted so keep going until it is all liquid … if after 6 minutes it still has some small lumps, scrape around bowl and melt for another minute)
  • Set aside … do not clean TM bowl
  • Add butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract and salt to TM bowl and mix 10 seconds / speed 5, scrape around sides and repeat 5 seconds / speed 5
  • Add icing sugar first to the ™ bowl, then place the melted chocolate on top
  • Mix 15 seconds / speed 10, scrape around bowl, repeat for another 10 seconds / speed 10, scrape around bowl, and repeat for a final 2 seconds / speed 10
  • Remove mix to a piping bag (if using) or a bowl so that you can more easily spread the icing onto your cupcakes
  • Decorate cupcakes as desired and allow the icing to set at room temperature before storing or eating (I usually let them sit for an hour and then store ... you should be able to touch the icing lightly without it sticking to your finger)

Notes

I have not used a Thermomix for the batter as it is so easy to put together, but I have however used the Thermomix for the icing.
If you are time poor and need to make a lot of cupcakes for an event in a few days time, then the icing can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge … take out of the fridge the morning that you plan to ice the cakes so that it comes to room temperature. Before icing you will need to stir it with a spoon to loosen it up, then place into your piping bag (if using one) or spread with a knife over your cakes. Leftover icing can be frozen in a sealed container … great for when you just want a little to cover a small cake, or small cupcakes.
The cupcakes can be made ahead too and frozen un-iced in a sealed container, just take out of the freezer the morning that you wish to ice them. Allow them to come to room temperature before icing. Iced cupcakes will keep well for a couple of days at room temperature in a covered container … if the weather is hot, then they will need to be kept somewhere cool, but not in the fridge as they will go hard and can dry out. If you choose to store them in the fridge, remove them at least a couple of hours before serving so that they have time to come to room temperature before eating.
For the icing, like all things, flavour will always come down to the quality of the chocolate you use. So don’t skimp on this part … get the best quality you can afford. I have recently been using Belgian couverture chocolate, but prior to that I was using Whittakers chocolate with great success. The quantity is enough to cover 20 cupcakes depending on how you choose to use it.