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Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting and Roses

I baked these Chocolate Cupcakes with a Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting and Roses in honor of my mother-in-law. I baked together with Alicia, my sister-in-law who lives in Canada. We baked these to honor her late Mama who loved chocolate. Make these in stages. I baked the cupcakes a day ahead and froze them. I made the vanilla frosting the next day. As a shortcut, Alicia used gum paste (from Wilton's) to make the roses. She is a more patient and better artistic cake decorator than I am, thus we used her photos here. The cupcake recipe was inspired by the Martha Stewart recipes and a past blog post of AsianInAmericamag.com. The butter cream frosting was adapted from a Taste of Home recipe. This recipe makes about 20 to 24 cupcakes.
Course: Dessert, Merienda, Snacks
Cuisine: American, Asian, Filipino
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Calories: 422kcal
Author: Asian in America

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup Cocoa powder unsweetened
  • 11/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 11/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 11/2 Tablespoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 3 Tablespoons corn oil
  • 1/2 cup butter softened, at room temperature (for vanilla butter cream frosting)
  • 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar for frosting
  • 6 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon teaspoon divided, use 1/2 teaspoon for cake batter, rest for frosting pure vanilla extract
  • 1 can (16 oz) Wilton's gum paste mix follow package directions to make gum paste for roses
  • 1-2 drops each red and green food color to color roses and leaves on frosting

Instructions

  • To make cupcakes: preheat the oven at 350 F. Line the cupcake pan with 24 paper liners. In a large bowl, sift together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and salt. Use a wire whisk to sift the ingredients. Swirl the dry ingredients around for a few rounds.
  • Transfer the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, warm water, sour cream and vanilla extract. Using a stand mixer, mix on high for 3 to 4 minutes till blended.
  • Pour the chocolate batter into the paper-lined cupcake pans. Bake in the preheated oven of 350 F degrees for 20 minutes. Test for doneness. Pierce the top with a small, sharp knife. If knife comes out dry, cupcakes are done. Cool cupcakes on a cake rack. Cakes must be completely cool before frosting is added.
  • To make the vanilla butter cream frosting : in a large mixing bowl, beat the butter with a stand mixer till it is creamy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, beating well as you are adding. Alternately add a tablespoon of the milk in between half a cup batches of the confectioners' sugar. Add the half teaspoon vanilla at the last five minutes of beating. Beat well for about 6 to 7 minutes till the frosting has a smooth, shiny consistency. Refrigerate frosting for at least 30 minutes before decorating cupcakes.
  • To make gumpaste roses: follow directions on the (Wilton's) gum paste package. Divide the gum paste in three parts. Add red, brown (combination of red and green colors) and green food color to each batch to make the red roses, chocolate roses and green leaves. Here's how we made the roses.
  • To assemble: take each of the completely cooled cupcakes. Use a large ziploc bag (or a pastry bag) and place a cup or two of the white vanilla frosting. Using cake decorator Wilton tip #21, swirl the frosting in a circular motion around the top of each cupcake. Top each cupcake with a rose and a leaf (made from gum paste).
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Nutrition

Calories: 422kcal | Carbohydrates: 87g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 868mg | Potassium: 99mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 63g | Vitamin A: 170IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1.8mg