I used semi-sweet chocolate but feel free to use any kind you like – just make sure it’s good quality!.Make sure to use unsweetened baking cocoa. Cocoa powder adds great chocolate flavor to the buttercream.Powdered sugar adds sweetness and structure to the buttercream.Vanilla enhances the flavor of the cocoa.Butter adds great flavor to the frosting and keeps it from becoming too dry.Butter makes the cream silky and smooth.Feel free to substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or the caviar from 1 vanilla bean. Vanilla bean paste adds great vanilla flavor, as well as little specks of vanilla bean.Cornstarch absorbs extra moisture and thickens the cream.Egg yolks thicken the cream filling while also adding additional richness.Milk makes a rich and delicious pastry cream.Vanilla enhances the sweetness of the cupcakes.Eggs bind the cupcakes together so they don’t fall apart.Vegetable oil helps keep the cupcakes moist so they don’t dry out.
Flour is the base of our cupcake – make sure to measure using the spoon and level method so you don’t end up with dry cupcakes.Spin the cupcake tin halfway through cooking – An oven’s heat is generally not terribly even so a simple way to make sure all of the cupcakes cook all the way through is to spin the pan about 1/2 way through baking 180 degrees.Stick to filling each liner about 3/4 full. Don’t over fill the cupcake liners – If you overfill the cupcake liners, you will definitely have some overflow which isn’t pretty and elegant.To be safe, I’d say give them 1-2 hours before frosting. Your frosting will just slide off the cupcake and it’ll be really sad. Your cupcakes are done baking, you are ready to sit down and eat one so you touch the cupcake and say “this is most definitely cool” even though it’s only been out of the oven for like, 5 minutes. Let the cupcakes completely cool before frosting – This is a classic mistake that people constantly make (including me).Don’t over-mix the cupcakes – If you want to keep cupcakes light and airy, avoiding over-mixing is key.Too many times have I seen recipes for wrong for people because they started to adjust the recipe too much. If you are facing this problem, I will gently suggest that you may want to consider finding a cupcake recipe on a site that specifically develops for the diet you are on such as a keto baking website or vegan baking website. Follow the recipe – While I totally understand dietary restrictions, if you plan on making changes to the ingredients, I cannot guarantee the recipe will work.