These Chocolate Wedding Cupcakes are the perfect chocolate cupcakes for weddings or other special celebrations. Everyone at a wedding loves a good chocolate cupcake, and this recipe has been made and loved by many. Watch the video showing you how to make these cupcakes, then scroll to the bottom of this post and print out the recipe so you can make them at home.
A couple of years ago, I had the task of making White Wedding Cake Cupcakes with Wedding Cupcake Buttercream for one of the teachers at my son’s school. I managed to squeak out about 125 cupcakes for her and a small wedding cake too. Those cupcakes have been a very popular recipe on the blog- and for good reason. They’re moist and perfect.
They’re jazzed up so much that you’d never know they started with a boxed mix (eek!). Seriously, you’d never know. This is the chocolate version of those cupcakes: Chocolate Wedding Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. And of course, they are not just for weddings!
The cupcakes themselves are moist and wonderful. The frosting is a simple chocolate buttercream- easy to pipe on in a swirly motion. I share what piping tip I used further down in this post. HERE is a great link from a blog that shows you some different ways to frost cupcakes. Decorate with pearls or sprinkles or leave them simple and plain.
If you’re baking these for a wedding, I recommend baking them in brown cupcake wrappers. You can always set the baked cupcakes inside of a more decorative wrapper on your display.
WHAT SUPPLIES DO YOU NEED TO MAKE WEDDING CUPCAKES?
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT SUPPLIES TO MAKE THESE CUPCAKES, HERE ARE MY SUGGESTIONS (THESE ARE AFFILIATE LINKS TO AMAZON):
- 12-cup muffin pan
- My suggestion for the cupcake liners is to visit a local baking supply shop where you live. They should carry a good, brown liner that won’t have the cupcake turning out greasy.
- Edible sugar pearls
- large plastic disposable pastry bags for piping the frosting
- For icing the cupcakes, I recommend trying either the Wilton Open Star 1M tip or the Wilton Closed Star 2D. Both of these you can usually find at craft or baking supply stores. Or just order a whole decorator tip kit and try out different ones!
- These disposable cupcake boxes are great… because you can bake and decorate your cupcakes, then store them in the boxes and refrigerate them overnight!
I own a wonderful cupcake stand from www.TheCupcakeTower.com. The one I have holds 128 cupcakes, but you can order a larger one that holds 208 (or simply display the rest of your cupcakes on the table surrounding the bottom of the tower. Then there are ribbon packs that you can order to add color to your tower.
These stands are great for a wedding, but I’ve actually used them on a number of other occasions too. They’re a good investment if you see a lot of cupcakes in your future! I figure it will cost just as much or more to rent a nice cupcake stand, and if you fork over the $$ to just purchase one yourself- you’ll have something to use for parties in the future!
As with using any recipe for an important occasion, my best advice is to test this recipe out and see how you like it before you make it for the big day. Frost the cupcakes and everything!
Then you’ll know if this recipe is for you.
HERE ARE A FEW LINKS THAT MAY BE HELPFUL TO YOU:
- How to Make Wedding Cupcakes (a post showing you how I made them for a wedding)
- Wedding Cupcake Buttercream (the best frosting recipe for these cupcakes)
- White Wedding Cake Cupcakes
- White Wedding Cake
Chocolate Wedding Cupcakes
Recipe Details
Ingredients
CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES:
- 1 box chocolate cake mix (15.25-ounce box) (Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines... something like that)
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
- 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 pounds powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups dark chocolate chips (or chopped dark chocolate)
Instructions
MAKE THE CUPCAKES:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place cupcake liners in cupcake pans (you'll need approx. 36).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cake mix, flour, sugar and salt. Add the remaining ingredients and beat with hand mixer for 2 minutes, or until well blended.
- Use an ice cream scoop to fill prepared cupcake tins- fill about 3/4 full. Bake about 18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.
FROST THE CUPCAKES:
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Increase speed to medium, and slowly add milk and vanilla, beating until smooth.
- Microwave the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring at 30 second intervals. Gradually add melted chocolate to mixture; beat until blended and smooth. If the frosting is too soft for piping, cover and refrigerate for a few minutes until it firms up a little bit. Otherwise, spread or pipe frosting on top of cupcakes and decorate as desired.
Video
Notes
- If you prefer an "extra chocolatey" cupcake, add 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, and use chocolate extract in place of vanilla.
- *If you are swirling the frosting on with a tip (to use a generous amount of frosting), you'll want to use this recipe for the frosting. If you're just spreading it on, you can cut the frosting ingredients in half to make a smaller amount.
- *You can use either regular or light sour cream for this recipe, but heck... since it's a wedding cupcake and you want it to be as delicious and moist as possible, I recommend going for the full-fat kind.
- *Using an ice cream scoop is perfect for getting the batter into the cupcake tins without spilling.
- *You can also use this mix to make cake. Pour into greased and floured cake pans. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- *For best results, keep the cupcakes refrigerated until ready to serve.
Made this for my daughter’s smash cake and cake for the family, and it was a huge hit! My 1 year old kept saying, YUM!! LOL. Love your white wedding cake recipe as well!
Wow! These were sooo good! Will be my quick go to!
Have made your white wedding cake cupcakes to rave reviews many, many times. This week I need to make Chocolate Wedding Cake Cupcakes…your chocolate recipe says to add 4 EGGS, but in your white recipe I have always used 4 EGG WHITES as you indicate. Should it be egg whites for the chocolate also?
Egg whites for the white cake to keep it white! But it’s totally okay to add the whole egg on the chocolate recipe, unless you want just whites 🙂
My go to for every occasion !
and added 1/3 cup cocoa. I used warm brewed coffee. Mom always said use hot water in chocolate cake as it melts the chocolate. Took out tsp so I could add tsp vanilla. I filled liners between 2/3 and 3/4. I think 3/4 would be too much. In my oven I baked for 17 minutes. So moist. I plan to freeze without frosting. Going to fill with homemade caramel and have little caramel added into my pudding frosting topped with homemade salted caramel. Hopefully they freeze well.
Best chocolate cupcakes I’ve ever made! Made a couple of changes.
Used 1/2 water and 1/2 coffee, added 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder and 1 box of instant chocolate jello pudding. My Dunkin Hines cake mix didn’t indicate that there was pudding in the mix. They were absolutely delicious. Filled them with caramel filling and topped with salted caramel buttercream. Also made them as mini cupcakes. Thanks so much!
Cupcakes look amazing. I am going to do the white and chocolate for my daughter’s baby reveal. For the chocolate frosting what type of chocolate do you have chopped up to melt in the microwave?
I usually buy a hunk of dark chocolate to chop up.
How could I make a half chocolate, half white wedding cake? Could I just make the white and add cocoa powder to half of the batter? Thank you.
I’d use this recipe for the chocolate and my white wedding cake recipe for the white.
Can this be used for regular cake pans? If so, what would the recipe be for 2, 8in rounds and 2, 10in rounds?
It should be fine baked in regular cake pans, but I don’t have bake times for those.
Hello can you tell me if I the tip from the white wedding cake about adding the extra ounces of cake mix would still apply with the chocolate , I have made the white several times and it always comes out amazing. Thanks
You could do that– but it works fine with the 15.25-ounce cake mix.
I made your chocolates cupcake recipe but made a cake with it. It stuck to the greased and floured pans an crumbled. I used two 9” pans. What size and how many layers would you recommend for making this cake?
If I make a wedding cake with this recipe, will it be ok to leave set out for a couple of hours? I am also going to make this a naked cake so the cake will not be completely covered with icing.
It should be fine sitting out for a couple of hours.
If you want to make round cakes, do you still cook it at 325 degress? And for how long?
Can you freeze the cakes before frosting them?
You can follow baking directions for this cake: https://www.recipegirl.com/white-wedding-cake/.
Yes, wrap the cakes individually in plastic wrap before freezing.
What are the best cupcake liners to use for the cupcake pan of 12? I’m looking for a recommendation for the type- paper, silicone etc..not necessarily a specific brand. Thank you!
I just use paper liners.
My cupcakes were really moist and good but I had to cook them 6 minutes longer and they were sticky on the top
This looks delicious! Am I reading this correctly though that the recipe should be enough frosting to frost 36 cupcakes with the huge amount that you put on in the pictures? Looking at the ingredients, I’m concerned it will yield way less?
Yes, with two pounds of powdered sugar in the frosting you should have enough to frost all of the cupcakes generously!
This is the best recipe for chocolate cupcakes there is!
The white wedding cake cupcake is so good that it made a friend of mine cry. She said it reminded her of her childhood.
Thank you for sharing
oh good 🙂
Lori, can I use the same quantities of ingress for a sheet cake?
I haven’t tried making this into a sheet cake yet! I do have a chocolate sheet cake recipe, if you’re interested: https://www.recipegirl.com/chocolate-sheet-cake/
Can you substitute cake flour instead of all purpose?
No, it’s not the same.
How much frosting do I need for 100 cupcakes? Thank you
Depends how much frosting you use on each cupcake. I recommend making a batch to see what you’ll need.
it doesn’t say how much vanilla in the frosting recipe
Oops- 1 teaspoon, fixed. Sorry for that.
I tried this recipe this morning with a chocolate cake mix that I like, but the flavor was very bland in this recipe. Could I add additional cocoa powder as well to maintain the chocolate flavor? If so, how much would you suggest, and should I reduce the extra flour?
Thanks
I think you could add 1/3 cup of cocoa powder if you want them more chocolatey, and you could use chocolate extract too (can buy at Whole Foods). I think the flavor is good in these, especially with the chocolate frosting… but I’m not a huge chocolate person, so perhaps some will like them more chocolatey!
I only have 15.25 oz cake mix. How do I make that work?
It should work just fine– since they changed the cake sizes, everyone has been making with the slightly smaller box and still turns out ok!
Do you think is get a better Chocolate flavor if I use brewed coffee for the water? TIA! This is an awesome recipe ive made lots of variations and always get compliments.
That sounds like an interesting idea. I’d try it!
Coffee would be perfect. We add this to mudcakes in Australia, you can’t taste the coffee but it enhances and brings out the chocolate flavour
Can you make one nine inch tw9 layer cake with this recipe or is this to much batter?
I believe it would make three thinner 9-inch layers. You could always make cupcakes with the extra batter if you just want two layers.
I am needing to make a chocolate cake for transporting 5 hours. Would this be a good recipe to freeze for transport?
Also, If I needed to make this a (3 layer) 9-inch cake, would I just double the recipe?
Hi Denise, I’m afraid you’ll just have to do some experimenting. I’m not sure about doubling– you may just have some leftover batter. It’ll probably be okay for transporting, but you may want to experiment with freezing and defrosting to make sure you’re happy with the results.
Your white cupcakes call for egg whites, however the chocolate ones call for whole eggs.
What would be the reason for that?
Thanks
You want the white cupcakes to be as white as can be, so you only use the whites for that one.
What size pans do you use for a layer cake?
I like to use three pans for a three layer cake– prefer three 8-inch pans!
What is your recommendation for trying to make this into a cake size or a layered cake?
I think it would work just fine.
Can you put this in the freezer.
I’ve frozen leftovers before. Well sealed.
Lori I have made these cupcakes numerous times with great tasty results (everybody loves them!!) and I have a question…instead of sour cream do you think buttermilk would work?
I have not tried using buttermilk.
Have you tried the white wedding cupcakes using a lemon mix?
Not yet!
Have you tried freezing them? I’d like to make them the week before a wedding and then thaw them the day before.
I haven’t tried freezing them, but as I tell everyone… it would be a good idea to test out your plan before the wedding so you know if they will be turning out as you expect them to.
Can this recipe be made into a carrot cake???? Both the white and chocolate cakes are fabulous!!!!
That would be delicious- I haven’t tried it yet!
could I use brownie mix instead of cake mix?
I don’t think it would turn out the same…
Since your adding the extra ingredients. Do they still taste chocolatey?
Thanks
Yes!
Do these still work with a 15.25oz cake mix?
I have made the same recipe with the smaller ounces box with the same results- so, yes!
I tried and love the white wedding cupcakes. I noticed the white calls for just egg whites and the chocolate says eggs? Do you use the yolk and all for the chocolate cupcakes?
yes!
I made these cupcakes today. Found them to be drier than I prefer. I added 1/4 c oil just in case. Any suggestions? I used a Betty Crocker Devils Food Cake mix. Thanks!
I’m not sure- if you make the recipe as directed, they should turn out just fine unless you are at a higher altitude or if your oven temperature is off a bit.
Lori,
I’m going to make these cupcakes for an upcoming wedding. How many days can they be left at room temperature (no frosted)? Wedding is on a Saturday and I would like to bake them on a Thursday and frost on a Friday. Your thoughts? Thank you!
Can you keep them refrigerated overnight? They should be fine sitting at room temp on the day of the wedding as long as it isn’t too warm.
great recepie! Specially for beginners at baking :). I just have one question: is it possible to replave sour cream with buttermik?
I don’t think so-
My cupcakes turned out dry and it’s not very tasty at all.
Not sure if it’s the cake mix box that I used. Love the white wedding cupcakes though..
I make your white wedding cake cupcakes all the time. Always a big hit. Last night I tried the chocolate ones, but husband said they need to be chocolatier. Could I add a little cocoa powder to it???
Probably!
These sound amazing – going to try for father’s day! We prefer milk chocolate to dark…. does the dark chocolate flavor in the frosting come through strongly? If so, do you think I could sub milk chocolate?
I’m sure that would probably be fine.
This recipe is my chocolate cup/cake recipe……. it does not fail me, for kids or adults. It just gets tweaked with the finishing touches to suit the crowd. They are just that good !!!
I made the white cupcakes last week for a birthday party and everyone raved about them. I just finished making the chocolate wedding cupcakes for my son’s wrestling dinner. I normally am not a fan of chocolate buttercream frosting because it is typically too sweet. But I couldn’t help keep taking tastes of the frosting because tastes soooo good. I can’t wait for everyone else to try them. Thanks for such delicious recipes!
so delicious!
Laura
can I use a Red Velvet cake mix? Will i need to change anything?
I’ve not tried red velvet, so I can’t recommend.
I made the frosting tonight and it is absolutely delicious. I used it to pipe roses per i am baker’s suggestion for a neapolitan rose cake (http://iambaker.net/neapolitan-rose-cake-rosette-cake/) and it was a little softer than the buttercream that I used for the white and strawberry buttercream but it worked ok. I would recommend that if you are going to do any decorating with this frosting to chill it a bit.
Hi Lori, I’m making 150 cupcakes for a friend’s wedding in 10 days. I had the soon to be bride over for a cupcake tasting of the 4 kinds of cupcakes I’m doing and she said your white wedding cupcakes were the best! SO….I’ve decided I’m also going to use your chocolate wedding cupcakes recipe as well instead of the other one chocolate one I did which was kind of dry. However, I’m just concerned about the Chocolate buttercream frosting because it has cream cheese in it and I’m afraid it won’t travel and hold well on the cupcake. The wedding reception is indoors but about an hour away. Do you feel that this frosting recipe will hold the cupcake well without being refrigerated for 3-4 hours? I look forward forward to hearing from you and thanks so much for posting these wonderful recipes!
Glad you asked… it’s definitely a little soft (not as thick as the wedding cupcake buttercream I have on the site). You may wish to look for a classic chocolate buttercream instead- just because of the special circumstances with traveling a ways). Good luck!
The wedding cupcakes and chocolate recipes are simply the best that I have tried so far…the batter is great and makes so much more. The chocolate frosting is to die for and I will be using this site for a long time…
I made the white wedding cake cupcakes yesterday for a shower, and today is chocolate day…for my husband’s birthday! They are awesome and everyone loves them..I love your website, thank you for sharing!!!!
My MIL made these and the white cupcakes for my wedding the first of June. I must say that these were the BEST cupcakes that I have ever eaten!!! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Awesome- so glad you enjoyed them so much!!
Great recipe
Lori – I made both the chocolate and vanilla versions over the weekend for my daughter’s 1st Communion. I added pink pearls to the white and white pearls to the chocolate. I made some for the dessert and others I put in little clear plastic containers tied with a ribbon and gave them as favors. They were a hit and Loved by all.
Thanks for sharing such delicious yet simple recipes.
Oooh! That’s a great idea. I think I’ll try the mini chocolate chips! Pillsbury still has the 18.25…. and that’s a good thing! I bought a ton of them when they were on sale for $.99 a month ago. Happy Baking!!! Thanks for your super fast response too!
Hi Lori! I’m going to try both your white and chocolate wedding cupcakes this weekend. I have a question about the chocolate recipe.
Do they taste less chocolaty with the added ingredients? Have you ever added any cocoa or chocolate?
I love your blog! Thanks for sharing!!!!
Shannon
Hi Shannon- I’m making both this weekend too for an event for a friend- a double batch of each! I noticed that Duncan Hines has reduced the size of their cake mix, so avoid that brand and look for one instead that is still 18.25 ounces. I thought the chocolate wedding cupcakes still tasted very chocolatey with the chocolate buttercream on top, but if you’re worried, you might try taking out 1/4 cup flour and adding in 1/4 cup cocoa. Or swirling in some mini chocolate chips.
I made these cupcakes for an adult birthday party and received tons of compliments. The cupcakes are very moist and the icing with butter and cream cheese is wonderful. I doubled the icing for piping like you suggested and came out with just the right amount of cupcakes and icing, this never happens for me. I am now looking for a reason to make the white wedding cupcakes. Thanks for making me look like a star.
You’re welcome!
These look yummy! As do the chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes. Which one do you like better? Have you used the chocolate buttercream frosting on vanilla cupcakes?
I don’t know! Loved both. The chocolate buttercream can be used on any cupcake flavor!
These look great….and if you cut a chunk out and drop a Lindt Truffle into the center when they are hot and then frost over later….they are divine! Thanks!
Love that idea!
yummy idea!
Thanks Lori! Those cupcakes look amazing! I can’t wait to make them. Love your recipes!!!
Its been so long since I baked without Duncan Hines Cake Mix but my sisters and I decided to get together and bake something and we chose this recipe it was worth it-we bonded and made a mess and the cup cakes came out great.
I made these for a church potluck this Sunday and they were a winner. I am a big fan of boxed cake mixes, so this recipe was perfect (I do have a from-scratch chocolate cake recipe that I am in love with and will be using on these next go-round). The frosting was the ‘icing on the cake’ – smooth, smooth, and smooth. I will be making these again, and again, and again.
Love this recipe and your photos.. Chocolate Wedding Cupcakes and perfect, and they look so dressed up with the addition of the ‘pearls’..
I made these last night using a cake mix recipe from scratch. I added a few native chocolate tablets (tablea de cacao). I loved how dark and chocolatey it came out! Definitely a keeper (even though I didn’t really use a cake mix. Heh.)
Lori…these look delicious and absolutely perfect! I have NO problem jazzing up a cake mix. Hey….they put YEARS of research into those boxes!
Oh, how I love chocolate…and weddings…so I know that these Chocolate Wedding Cupcakes are absolutely perfect.
Lori, these little cupcakes are so perfectly lovely! They look absolutely fit for a fancy fete. Great job!
I am a testament to these cupcakes…they are perfect! Thank You Lori for this great recipe…
I made these for a girls night out and the girls RAVED about the cupcakes…the only thing I did different is I added a 1/4 tsp of KAF espresso powder to them, and boy did I get wonderful reviews on those babies!!!
these are PERFECT!
I have and LOVE LOVE LOVE the cupcake tower!!!!! Lovely cupcake Lori
Sounds and looks delicious!!!
I would love to be able to make a cupcake, with the result like these ones, but NOT use a box mix! Any ideas on how to accomplish that?
Yes- here is another chocolate cupcake recipe I’ve used that is not a boxed mix- also very good: https://www.recipegirl.com/2007/03/08/chocolatey-cupcakes-dipped-in-chocolate-ganache/
I don’t bake cupcakes that often, but I can’t wait to try these!
I love your white wedding cake cupcakes, so I’m sure that these are perfectly satisfying too. The swirls are gorgeous, Lori!
The cupcakes looks very nice but I NEVER would use a cake mix from a box. I understand it is less time consuming , easier but you never will convince me that the taste is the same as a from scratch cake. Sorry!
I completely understand your hesitation- I make most everything from scratch. But I think you might be surprised how good these turn out. I’d say 90% of the population would never be able to tell they began w/ a boxed mix, and adding a delicious homemade frosting on top sure helps. Now… the canned frosting- that’s definitely something I never do!!
Sometimes it is nice to start with a box, especially for a quicker something. I’ve never tried white or chocolate wedding cake but it sounds delicious.
A tower of these would be great at any party. Love how the pearls dress them up.
These look great Lori! Wish you lived close enough to make them for my wedding 🙂
OMG. I am a die-hard fan of your white wedding cupcakes so I must be making these chocolate ones immediately!!! Thanks for the great recipes! You rock!!!
Hi Lori-those cupcakes look delicious! Almost too pretty to eat. 🙂
One quick question-what brand cake mix do you use?
The reason I ask-Betty Crocker has downsized to 15.25 oz. and Duncan Hines downsized their chocolate cake mixes to 16.5 oz…….what a mess this is making of recipes I have here using the 18.25 oz. mix. So far Pillsbury is the only mix-knock on wood-that hasn’t downsized-at least from what I’ve seen. The shrinking size mixes are showing up everywhere around here now.
Thanks!
Carol
I like to use Duncan Hines. Haven’t noticed a difference in the outcome of the cake, even though they’ve downsized them (hadn’t even realized that they did!). I suppose you could always add a couple of tablespoons of flour to the recipe if you were worried about their being much less though.
These are so beautiful! I love how elegant and sophisticated they are 🙂
Oh your cupcakes looks beautiful! I am just speeachless.
That frosting sounds like a dream.
I want! I do!
Any bride would be ecstatic with these. I know I would’ve been.
Hi! these cupcakes look fabulous !
I have a question to bake this recipe as a regular cake
IS a 13 x 9 cake pan too small for this batter?
Is a 10 x 15 too big ! I would like to bake this as a Birthday cake
for a friend this week ..
Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes !
Gloria
You could make a 13×9-inch cake, but you might find that you can make 4 to 6 cupcakes w/ the excess batter. It’s just a little bit too much batter to make a 13×9-inch cake. 10×15 is probably too big.
There is something so perfect about chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!
Absolutely lovely! Yum!
Nothing wrong with starting from a box!
These look awesome!
I usually don’t like frosting on cake or cup cake but here the frosting looks just too good. It clearly shows how smooth it is! Sounds delicious.