I felt like a modern-day Pied Piper as I carried a tray of these cupcakes to the dessert table at a picnic last fall. A throng of kids sprang up behind me, each one clamoring for a cupcake decorated with the familiar white curlicue and enriched with a hidden cream filling. Soon, all that was left was an empty tray and the hilarious chocolate smears that decorated the faces and fingers of the youngest children. These are simpler to make than you’d imagine and, given the excitement they always inspire, they certainly are worth the effort. You’ll need a pastry bag with a number 10 tip to inject the cream filling into the center of the cupcakes.

　　

Ingredients

makes 2 dozen standard cupcakes

　　

Cocoa Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

　　3/4 cup granulated sugar

　　3/4 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar

　　1 cup high-quality unsweetened cocoa (such as Green & Black’s or Scharffen Berger)

　　2 teaspoons baking powder

　　1 teaspoon baking soda

　　1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

　　1 cup buttermilk

　　1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

　　2 large eggs

　　2 teaspoons vanilla extract

　　3/4 cup boiling water

　　

Filling

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

　　3/4 cup powdered sugar

　　1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

　　

Icing

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

　　1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

　　1/4 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup or corn syrup

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　Pinch of kosher salt

　　

Step 1

TO MAKE THE CUPCAKES: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease standard-size (3-inch-diameter) muffin cups with butter or cooking spray, sprinkle with flour, and knock out the excess.

　　

Step 2

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until combined. Add the boiling water and whisk until the batter is smooth. Evenly spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each of the prepared muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on wire racks about 20 minutes before filling and icing.

　　

Step 3

TO MAKE THE CREAM FILLING: Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the 1 cup butter and powdered sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the 1/4 cup whipping cream and beat for 1 minute more. Set aside.

　　

Step 4

TO MAKE THE ICING: Set the chocolate in a bowl. In a saucepan set over medium heat, bring the 1/2 cup whipping cream to a gentle boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, stirring constantly until it melts completely. Stir in the syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and pinch of salt. Let the icing cool for about 20 minutes before spreading over the cupcakes.

　　

Step 5

TO ASSEMBLE THE CUPCAKES: Using a spoon, fill a pastry bag fitted with a round number 10 tip three-quarters full with the cream filling. Set the cupcakes upside down on a work surface. For each cupcake, push the metal pastry tip into the center of the bottom of the cupcake three-quarters of the way in, squeezing filling out as you go. Refill the pastry bag as needed and repeat with each cupcake. (There will be extra filling; you’ll use it to decorate the tops of the cupcakes.) Turn the cupcakes right side up and use a spatula to ice their tops. Let the icing harden for about 15 minutes.

　　

Step 6

TO FINISH: Embellish the top with curlicues of the leftover filling piped with the same number 10 tip; 2 or 3 plumpish curls will fit on top of each cake. For a more authentic look, spoon the leftover filling into a plastic sandwich bag, snip off a tiny corner, and squeeze out the filling to make 5 or 6 thin curls on each cupcake.

　　

do it early

Step 7

The cupcakes can be made, filled, and stored on a tray or platter and covered in plastic wrap up to 1 day in advance without refrigeration. Covered and refrigerated, they’ll keep 2 days. Ice before serving.

　　

tip

Step 8

No buttermilk? Here’s a substitute: put 1 tablespoon lemon juice or distilled white vinegar in a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to measure 1 cup and stir. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes; stir again.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.