It’s spooky season, ghouls! *pops champagne*
It’s that time of year when every burning desire to craft, bake, and binge watch Halloween movies comes crawling out of the woodwork. Or more accurately, comes bursting through it like the Kool-aid man.
I’m not sure what it is exactly. The leaves changing. The cute, family-owned pumpkin patches cropping up on every corner. Or the sudden realization that I can finally turn my oven to 375 degrees without breaking a sweat. Regardless, all I want to do is carve pumpkins, bake fun Halloween-themed treats, and watch scary movies through the cracks between my fingers.
If you can relate, then I have good news:
1: There are a million and one pumpkins ready for the taking.
2. The same goes for scary movies.
3. I’m sharing my recipe for Black Cat Double Chocolate cupcakes. They’re scary good.
*Feel free to skip straight to the recipe at the bottom of this page, or keep reading for a quick picture tutorial or how to make the cute cat decorations*
Let's get started!
Although these cupcakes might seem like a lot of work, they’re actually fairly easy to make. The hardest part is making the decorations–the ears, the nose, and whiskers–but even then, they’re well worth the outcome!
Here’s how you make them:
While you cupcakes are cooling and your buttercream is minding it’s own business, it’s time to make your decorations. I start with the nose and whiskers first because they’re super quick to make. For the nose, you simply pipe small M&M-sized triangles on a parchment-lined baking tray using pink candy melts. And for the whiskers, use chocolate candy melts to pipe 1-inch lines. Sprinkle them with sanding sugar and let them set up in the freezer before carefully peeling them from the parchment.
Now here’s the real fun part…the ears!
For the ears, it’s a lot of piping and cooling, piping and cooling. First you’ll pipe 1-inch triangles with chocolate candy melts, let them set up in the freezer, then flip them over so the flat side is face up. Lightly smear pink candy melts on the triangles, let them set up in the freezer, then pipe chocolate buttercream on the two longer edges. At this point, you gently dip the ears in black sanding sugar making sure not to use too much pressure, or you’ll get the sugar all over the pink part.
To make it easier when it comes to the assembly, I also pipe a little bit of chocolate underneath the ears to act almost like a popsicle stick or something like that. It might not be the prettiest, but it just makes the ears more sturdy in the end.
The Assembly
The assembly is super easy. First you’ll pipe a generous amount of buttercream on each cupcake. Roll each one in black sanding sugar until all of the buttercream is covered. Sometimes the frosting can get misshapen at this point, but you can gently tap it back into shape using your fingers or butter knife. Then add your cute cat ears, pink noses, and 2-3 whiskers on each side of the nose. Your choice!
Aaaand voila! Now you have spooky, cute, and delicious cupcakes to snack on during scary movie night, bring to the party, or keep to yourself for when those chocolate cravings hit. I hope you enjoy!
Black Cat Double Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup dark or dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp black cocoa powder
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- ½ cup boiling water
- ½ cup whole milk room temperature
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream room temperature
- 2 eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
For the buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup dark or dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 3-4 Tbsp heavy cream
- pinch of salt
For the decorations
- black sanding sugar
- 1 cup dark chocolate melting wafers
- 1/4 cup pink white chocolate melting wafers
Instructions
For the cupcakes
- Preheat your oven to 350° F and prepare two cupcake pans with cupcake liners. About 18 cavities should be filled.
- In a small bowl, combine your flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl--or the bowl of a stand mixer--add your dark chocolate, espresso powder, and both cocoa powders. Pour the boiling water over your ingredients, making sure the chocolate is fully immersed. Let stand for about five minutes before stirring. Once your chocolate is completely melted, add your milk and whisk until smooth.
- In the same bowl, add your flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk on low speed until just combined. Then scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl and incorporate the sour cream.
- Add your eggs one at a time, making sure to incorporate fully. Room temperature really is key here. Then add your vegetable oil and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Your batter will be fairly thin.
- Using a cookie scoop or dry measuring cup, fill each of your cupcake liners with the batter. For best results, fill each liner ⅔ of the way full. Place your pans on the middle rack of your oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out semi-clean. A few crumbs is okay, as long as they aren't gooey or wet.
- Let your cupcakes cool in their pans for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Once they're on the rack, wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer (not the fridge). This speeds up the cooling process and locks in the moisture, so you're guaranteed the perfect cupcake texture. Keep them in the freezer until cooled or until you're ready to use them.
For the buttercream
- Using a double boiler or microwave, melt your dark chocolate chips and stir until completely smooth. Set aside to let cool to room temperature, but do not refrigerate.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream your softened butter until light and fluffy. I usually do this on the lowest or second to lowest setting. Add your cocoa powder and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Next, add your powdered sugar one cup at a time, adding one Tablespoon of heavy cream after each addition.
- Slowly incorporate your cooled, melted chocolate, stirring with the paddle attachment as you do so. If the chocolate ends up being too warm that it ends melting your buttercream, place your mixture in the fridge for about ten minutes before trying to mix it again. It should be light and fluffy after it's fully incorporated.
- Lastly, don't forget mix in that pinch of salt. It'll cut a bit of the sweet and enhance the chocolate flavor.
For the decorations
- Line a baking sheet (or something similar that will fit in your freezer) with parchment paper. Pour your sanding sugar into a bowl. Scoop a few spoonfuls of buttercream into a piping bag or plastic sandwich baggie and cut the tip. Set aside.
- Melt both your dark chocolate and pink candy melts according to their package instructions. Transfer the melted dark chocolate to a piping bag or plastic sandwich baggie and cut the tip. Start small...you can always make the hole larger. Do the same for half of the pink candy melts and keep the other half in the bowl for when you make the ears.
- Make the cat noses. Pipe small, M&M sized triangles onto the parchment-prepared baking sheet. Place them in the freezer for a couple minutes to set.
- Make the cat whiskers. Using the melted dark chocolate, pipe 1-inch lines onto the parchment. They can be as thin or thick as you like. Quickly sprinkle them with sanding sugar and let them set up in the freezer for a couple minutes. Dust or shake the excess sanding sugar off so they're ready to use.
- Make the cat ears. Using the melted dark chocolate, pipe 1-inch triangles onto your parchment. Let them set up in the freezer for a couple minutes then flip them over so the flat side is facing up. Using a butter knife, smear a thin layer of pink chocolate onto each triangle and freeze to set. Once they're set, pipe the chocolate buttercream on the two longer sides of each triangle. Gently dip them into the bowl of sanding sugar (don't press them into it) and put them in the freezer until the buttercream hardens. Afterward, make assembly easier, pipe short thick popsicle stick shapes and press the back of each cat ear onto one. Freeze until ready to use.
Assembly
- Fill a piping bag or something similar with your chocolate buttercream and frost each cupcake in a circular motion. It definitely doesn't have to be perfect.
- Roll the frosted part of each cupcake into a bowl of black sanding sugar, making sure to cover all of the buttercream. If it ends up lopsided or misshapen, use your fingers to gently tap, smooth, and round out the sugar-covered buttercream.
- Insert the ears into each cupcake, angling the ears slightly upward. Place a pink nose in the center of each cupcake, flat side facing up. And put 2-3 chocolate whiskers on both sides of the nose. Personally, I think 2 looks best, but you do you! 🙂
