Cakes & pastry
Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
These cupcakes use a creamed-butter cocoa batter and one cream-cheese frosting for both the centre and the piped top. Fill the cases only two-thirds full, bake at 170°C, and cool completely before coring. Keep the frosting ingredients cold and stop mixing when the cream is smooth and holds its shape.
4 min read
Use the frosting in the centre and on top
The recipe keeps the assembly simple: no separate filling is required. A small cavity in each cooled cupcake holds some cream cheese frosting, and the rest becomes the piped cap. This gives you practice with creaming, portioning, coring and piping in one bake.
Prepare the batter ingredients so the butter is soft and the egg and milk or cream are not fridge-cold. The frosting follows the opposite temperature pattern: its cheese and whipping cream should be cold. Set the two ingredient groups apart so the temperatures do not get confused.
Compare other cream-cheese frosting formulas and their uses.
Bake the chocolate cupcakes
Cocoa cupcake batter
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 90 g wheat flour
- 70 g sugar
- 70 g unsalted butter, softened
- 50 g milk or cream
- 5 g baking powder
- 10 g cocoa powder
Method
- Cream the butter. Beat the soft butter and sugar until light and expanded. Add the egg and beat until the mixture comes together.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder thoroughly.
- Alternate the additions. Mix half the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Add the room-temperature milk or cream and combine with a spatula, then add the remaining dry ingredients.
- Portion. Divide the thick, airy batter among supported paper cases, filling each only about two-thirds full to leave room for rising.
- Bake. Bake in a preheated 170°C (338°F) conventional oven for approximately 20 minutes. Check the centre with a skewer. Cool the cupcakes completely before filling.
Case size determines the number of cupcakes. Keep portions even so they bake together.
Make the cold cream-cheese frosting
Filling and piped frosting
Ingredients
- 200 g full-fat cream cheese, cold
- 90 g whipping cream, 33% fat, cold
- 45 g icing sugar
Method
- Weigh and chill. Make sure the cream cheese and cream are cold. Sift the icing sugar if it has lumps.
- Mix. Combine all three ingredients and beat at medium speed until smooth and thick enough to pipe. A tall bowl helps contain splashes. Stop when the cream holds its shape rather than continuing until it becomes grainy.
- Core the cupcakes. Cut a small cavity from the centre of each completely cooled cupcake. Keep the bottom and walls intact.
- Fill and pipe. Fill the cavity with frosting, then pipe a cap using a large nozzle. Decorate as desired and refrigerate.
A short chilled rest can make the frosting easier to pipe. Judge the texture before piping rather than assuming more whipping will always strengthen it.
Choose a cheese that gives a smooth cream
Use a smooth, full-fat cream cheese intended for desserts or a comparably firm plain cream cheese. Check that it is homogeneous and does not have an obvious pool of whey. Product formulations vary, so fat percentage alone does not promise identical results.
Mascarpone, ricotta and grainy cottage cheese are not direct substitutes in this formula. They contain different amounts of fat, water and protein, so the texture and piping behaviour change. A recipe designed around one of them is a better starting point than forcing it into this ratio.
If the frosting becomes loose, check the cheese, ingredient temperature and mixing time first. Do not immediately pour in more cream or add large amounts of sugar; both can move the formula further from the intended result.
Diagnose a filling that is too loose before changing its ingredients.
Core neatly and keep the dairy topping chilled
A refrigerator rest of four to six hours can make cooled cupcake bases less crumbly when you cut the cavity. Keep them covered during the rest. The frosting can also rest cold before piping; if it becomes too firm, allow only enough tempering to make it workable.
Keep finished cupcakes in a covered container in the refrigerator. A box is useful for transport, but protection from drying and refrigerator aromas matters too. Follow the ingredient storage guidance and make the batch close to serving instead of treating a general three-day estimate as a guarantee for every dairy product.
For serving, a brief tempering can soften the butter-based sponge and frosting. Bring out the number you need. If you add caramel or a fruit filling to the centre, use a thick, cooled filling and adjust the amount of frosting so the cupcake does not overflow.
Common questions
Can I fill the cupcakes while warm?
No. Cool them completely so the frosting does not warm and soften inside the cake.
How full should the paper cases be?
About two-thirds full. The batter needs space to rise.
Is the frosting also the filling?
Yes. This version uses the same cream cheese frosting in the cavity and on top.
Can I swap in mascarpone?
It changes the balance and consistency. Use a mascarpone-specific frosting formula for a predictable result.