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, but the one I bought isn’t available anymore.
These kinds of 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
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1⅓ 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
- ½ 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 ¾ 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 1½ 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.
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!