I was inspired to make these delicately sweet cupcakes with a few pomegranate arils on top for a cheerful, all-natural “sprinkle” by memories of treats at my relatives’ house in Johns Creek, Georgia.
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 cupcakes |
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- pomegranate seeds, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line one 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
- Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
- Beat together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer a medium speed until light and fluffy, about 90 seconds. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
- Beat in flour mixture one-third at a time, alternating with 1/4 cup milk, on low speed until just combined. Fill each prepared muffin cup with 1/4 cup batter
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat together cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Reduce speed to low; add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until frosting is smooth.
- Fit a piping bag with a large star or round tip and fill with frosting. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes. Garnish with pomegranate arils. Serve immediately or store, chilled, in an airtight container up to 1 week.
Reviews
The cupcake part is good. I switched the frosting to using only one cup of sugar but adding one teaspoon of vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice to get a very good flavor with fewer empty calories. I also used diced strawberries, as the pomegranate I bought was insipid. I tried cranberry bits too, but they lacked the sweet juice of either pomegranate or strawberry
This is the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever. It is so moist and delicious. I had a lot of frosting left over so next time I will half the recipe. I also split the recipe in half so I could make 1/2 the cupcakes with vanilla frosting and half with chocolate frosting. I just replaced 1/4 of the powdered sugar with 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa. If you want to make the frosting entirely chocolate then you would replace 1/2 cup.
These are superb. I used a muffin tin that holds 6 large muffins. I added a 1/4 cup of coffee. They are delicious and have the right amount of chocolate flavor. My daughter is picky about desserts but has already eaten 2 of them and I just made them yesterday