“Better Than Sex” Chocolate Cupcakes
Wednesday, 13 July 2011
Edited to add: I made these chocolate cupcakes with a Nutella buttercream. If you love Nutella, you have to check them out!
…I think the title says it all. These cupcakes actually live up to their lofty name. The cake part is really moist with a strong chocolate flavor, and topping them with dark chocolate ganache and a drizzle of white chocolate simply puts them over the top.
Stef over at Cupcake Project actually added mini chocolate chips to the batter and then filled the cupcakes with chocolate mousse (which sounds amazing) but even without those added chocolate layers, these were definitely quite decadent and rich chocolate cupcakes. Next time your favorite chocoholic has a birthday or some other special occasion I recommend making these!
Recipe:
- 1/2 C butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 C sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 C flour
- 1/2 t baking powder
- 1/4 t baking soda
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 C milk
- 1 t vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter until softened and smooth. Add sugar and beat for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each until well combined.
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. In a separate small bowl, combine milk and vanilla.
Add about 1/3 of dry ingredients to butter and sugar and mix until combined. Add about 1/2 of wet ingredients to mixture and mix until combined. Continue alternating dry and wet, mixing in between (finish with the remaining dry ingredients).
Fill cupcake tins about 1/2 full (don’t overfill – you only need 1/2) and bake for around 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Also don’t worry – these will come out flat, but that’s perfect for smoothing on a layer of ganache.
- 3.5 oz of dark chocolate
- 1/3 C heavy cream
- 2 oz. white chocolate
Melt chocolate in microwave or on the stove, stirring frequently. Pour into a plastic sandwich bag or pastry bag. Cut a very small hole in the tip of the bag and slowly pour over harden ganache – get creative with it!
No. 1 — July 13th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
These are so cute! And such a simple recipe. I’ll definitely make some tomorrow. Thanks!
No. 2 — July 13th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Hmmm, a bold statement but they do look very exciting, even erotic dare I say…..:)
No. 3 — July 13th, 2011 at 3:48 pm
These look awesome! Love the pretty drizzle on top.
No. 4 — July 13th, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Oh my, these look sooooo good. Thank you for making my hips even bigger
Buzzed this!
No. 5 — July 13th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Yummy! They look decadent and so good! I’m making them as soon as possible!
buzzed ya!
No. 6 — July 13th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
@Kes – it is an easy recipe! Enjoy and let me know how you like them!
No. 7 — July 13th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
@Foodness Gracious – it is a very bold statement but I think it works in this case!
No. 8 — July 13th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
@Tori – thanks! I think the white chocolate drizzle really makes them look nice too.
No. 9 — July 13th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
@Janet – haha thanks for the buzz!
No. 10 — July 13th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
With a name like that how can I not want one… or two! These look super yummy!!
No. 11 — July 13th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
I think the name DOES say it all! I’d like……um…..multiple!
No. 12 — July 13th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Can I be my own chocoholic? These sound like I have got to try them, you know – that awesome name and all
No. 13 — July 13th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
@Lindsey – they were awesome! Luckily I made them for a birthday party so I could only eat 1. I could’ve eaten them all!
No. 14 — July 13th, 2011 at 7:42 pm
@Ann – yes, I could’ve eaten them all! Luckily they were earmarked for a party.
No. 15 — July 13th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
@kita – of course! How silly of me to forget the most important chocoholic. Gotta look out for yourself!
No. 16 — July 13th, 2011 at 7:52 pm
Great cupcakes! I need to throw a party or something to have a reason to make them! They sound amazing!
No. 17 — July 14th, 2011 at 1:00 am
What a bold name! The cupcakes look fantastic though. I love anything chocolate
No. 18 — July 14th, 2011 at 3:53 am
The name says it all! Yum!
No. 19 — July 14th, 2011 at 5:19 am
Ok..this title really convinced me to try them
))
No. 20 — July 14th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
They do look delightful
No. 21 — July 14th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
I just recently made these for someones birthday at work..great recipe!
No. 22 — July 14th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Wow those look good
Love the ganache and white chocolate on top. Awesome 
No. 23 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:40 am
Ive never had the infamous ‘better than sex’ cake ive seen around, but these little cupcakes look down right dangerous (in a brilliant way of course!) so rich but i think i would eat far too many of them! Beautifully clear photo too, very tempting post indeed!
No. 24 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
@Erin – yes, find any excuse you can! Celebrate Friday and just make them
No. 25 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
@Jennifer – thanks! If you love anything chocolate, you should give them a try!
No. 26 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
@veronicagantley – it sure does! They’re something special.
No. 27 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
@Medeja – it definitely catches your eye. Give them a try and tell me what you think!
No. 28 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
@Magic of Spice – thanks!
No. 29 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
@Danielle – that’s great! I love it too.
No. 30 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
@Heidi – thank you!
No. 31 — July 15th, 2011 at 6:27 pm
@Sasha – thank you! They’re dangerous…if you don’t want to eat them all, have a plan for giving them away set up ahead of time!
No. 32 — July 16th, 2011 at 3:22 am
LOL. I love the name of these cupcakes. I’ve been looking for a good chocolate cupcake recipe. judging by the name… this should be the one.
No. 33 — July 16th, 2011 at 9:30 am
@tinytearoom – you should try them if you’re looking for a good chocolate cupcake. Come back and tell me what you think!
No. 34 — July 17th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Better than sex eh? I’m in! haha
No. 35 — July 18th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
No need to wait for a special occasion for this sinful treat!
No. 36 — July 20th, 2011 at 10:03 am
@Elyse – haha well, maybe not quite…but really really good!
No. 37 — July 20th, 2011 at 10:06 am
@Sandra – absolutely not! It’s never a bad time for chocolate.
No. 38 — July 22nd, 2011 at 7:01 pm
Just finished baking these… mine were a massive fail
Definitely not the recipe – but the baker! I forgot to put in the baking powder! Can you believe it? Such a silly mistake. Oh, well. I will try again as even though they sunk – they still tasted great 
P.S. Wrote about these over @ my blog: http:www.sweetlifebymel.blogspot.com, hope you don’t mind
No. 39 — July 22nd, 2011 at 7:09 pm
@Sweet Life by Mel – oh no! What a disappointment. Some of Cupcake Project’s readers have had problems with these cupcakes sinking, so if you try them again (with baking powder) and they still don’t work, let me know. I’ve made the recipe twice with no problems (they just came out flat, which is supposed to happen) but I want to add a disclaimer if others have problems. Thanks Mel!
No. 40 — July 23rd, 2011 at 2:26 am
@Stephanie – I’m hoping it was just the baking powder… I did however cover them in chocolate buttercream frosting and they were still amazing!!
No. 41 — July 23rd, 2011 at 3:51 pm
The cupcakes look so good. I’m sure they are better than sex.
No. 42 — July 24th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
My cupcakes fell in.. I almost cried when I pulled them out!:( I don’t know what I did wrong, except my oven may be a little on the hot side.
No. 43 — July 24th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
@Caitlin – oh no! That’s so disappointing! A few Cupcake Project readers complained about the same thing, while others have raved about this recipe. Do you think you may have over mixed the batter? Or is your baking soda expired? Check out these tips from Stef at Cupcake Project about sinking cupcakes: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2007/01/how-to-keep-cupcakes-from-collapsing-in.html
No. 44 — July 25th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Another fabulous cupcake recipe! My family would go nuts for these~
No. 45 — July 27th, 2011 at 10:09 am
@Liz – you should make them!
No. 46 — July 31st, 2011 at 6:11 pm
I made these tonight, 3 dozen and they over filled and they all sank in. I didnt leave any ingredients out, I used all purpose flour. I think my only mistake was over flowing the cupcake liners??
How “full” did you fill them?
No. 47 — July 31st, 2011 at 7:39 pm
@Holly – you only need to fill them half way. Some people have been having issues with this recipe sinking but others rave about it. Stef from Cupcake Project and I have been trying to figure out what has been going wrong for some. How full did you fill them? Do you think you could’ve over mixed the batter or your oven is running hot?
No. 48 — August 1st, 2011 at 7:00 am
@ Stephanie -
I totally overfilled them, I am remaking them tonight and will only fill them 1/2 way. Thanks!
No. 49 — August 1st, 2011 at 1:34 pm
@Holly – oh ok. Let me know how they turn out this time. Good luck!
No. 50 — August 25th, 2011 at 7:19 am
These turned out great. Tops were flat but not sunken in. I baked for good 23 min. Will definitely use this recipe again. Thanks!
No. 51 — September 1st, 2011 at 6:47 am
I re-made these cupcakes filling the cups only half filled and they turned out perfect. These are by far my fvorite chocolate cupcake recipe. Thanks for the input!!
No. 52 — September 1st, 2011 at 2:22 pm
@Holly – that’s great! I’m so glad the recipe ended up working for you. It’s my favorite too!
No. 53 — September 5th, 2011 at 11:59 pm
Hey everybody!
so uhmm 1/2?
I am having a bit (a lot actually) of trouble with my cupcakes :S
While in the oven they rise and all of the sudden they just get ugly liked a kind of sucked in thing :S it looks HORRIBLE but taste AWESOME..
is anybody else having the same problem or is it just me? this is my second time doing this.. Tips maybe?
xo
ivonne
No. 54 — September 6th, 2011 at 8:48 am
@Ivonne – did you fill the cupcake tins only half full? It’s hard to tell what’s going on – some people love this recipe, some can’t get it to work. It could be variable oven temperatures, over mixing the batter, or over filling the cupcakes.
Here are some tips about keeping cupcakes from collapsing: http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2007/01/how-to-keep-cupcakes-from-collapsing-in.html
No. 55 — September 6th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Yeah! They didn’t overfilled them or over-mixed! I think it might be my oven :S I’m so frustrated, this is my third attempt and same results! But the batter is DELICIOUS! I’m not giving up though.. >=)
No. 56 — September 6th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
And thanks @stephanie, for taking the time and answering every single one of us!
No. 57 — October 15th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
I tried these cupcakes today and they are more like brownies but a bit too dry inside. I think it would be a good idea to add some chocolate chips in there for moisture.
No. 58 — November 10th, 2011 at 11:10 am
OMG. i’m baking these to bring over a friend’s house tonight. and if the cupcakes are anything like the batter, then OMG. this is a definite keeper. thanks for sharing this — i’m thinking of putting a little orange liqueur into the ganache if i can find it. i may even post about this tomorrow if they come out as delicious as i think they will (and i of course will link back to the source!)
YUM!
No. 59 — February 5th, 2012 at 8:44 am
they taste amazing! but mine ended up stuck to their wrappers. ;3; i don’t know what happened!
No. 60 — February 6th, 2012 at 10:10 pm
@Danielle – that’s strange. What kind of liners did you use? I’m not sure if you’ve read the other comments but these cupcakes have had wildly mixed results.
No. 61 — February 23rd, 2012 at 12:43 pm
THESE WERE AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZIIING!!!! So delicious! Wow! You are very very right about only filling half way, even though I thought it didn’t look like enough, the raised nicely. The ones where I had more than half rose rather funny (Corners rose while middle stayed leveled…sort of like a wall around them, haha)
I was silly though and combined this with another recipe (Adding Lindor to the middle after 5 mins.) which made some of them break apart when taking out. OOPS!!! However, still worked with some and next time if I choose to add the lindor, I’ll put them in after perhaps 10 minutes, so that the bottom has a better chance of cooking/holding it all in
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!! I made them for my husband’s birthday & doubt they will disappoint!
No. 62 — February 23rd, 2012 at 8:03 pm
@Galine – so so glad you love the recipe! I hope your husband loves them! Enjoy
No. 63 — March 16th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Hi Stephanie,
I was wondering how you would store these cupcakes? And also, I was wondering if I could bring these babies in school as well. How do you think these cupcakes will last in the Arizona heat? And have you ever tried to pipe or whip up the ganache and drizzle on the white chocolate instead of just glazing each one? Do you think that would be a great combination?
Sorry for all the questions! I’m just really curious because I have yet to find a really mindblowing chocolate cupcake that doesn’t require a lot of hassle. And do you know any recipes that have a really moist chocolate cupcake that is domed? All of the moist chocolate cvupcakes I’ve tried baked out flat, unfortunately.
No. 64 — March 16th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
@Rose – Just so you know: I’m thinking about editing this post, because although some people have raved about this recipe, some have issues with the cupcakes collapsing. I can’t figure out why it goes so well for some but not for others.
To answer your questions, if you let the ganache completely cool and set up, it should be a nice consistency for piping. I’m not sure how hot it is in Arizona right now, so I can’t really speak to that. Keep them in the fridge in between traveling and hopefully they won’t melt. I don’t have a great chocolate cupcake that’s domed. I know that Stef at Cupcake Project has been working on the ultimate chocolate cupcake and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. I will definitely try out her recipe and share it here on my blog.
No. 65 — April 4th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
I JUST pulled these out of the oven and they are heavenly! Mine came out perfect without collapsing! I filled them half full and could have even filled them more and they would have still turned out great! For those that are having issues with them collapsing, it could also be a matter of where you live…when I lived in Colorado a few years ago I could never get homemade cupcakes or baked goods to come out right. Now that I’m in Texas it’s much easier! Thanks so much for this delicious and EASY recipe
No. 66 — April 12th, 2012 at 5:06 am
Hi , this looks delicious . My sons 1st birthday is this sunday and i am thinking of trying it. is it possible to use superfine flour or the ones for specially for making cake?
No. 67 — April 12th, 2012 at 9:26 pm
@JINI – different flours have different amounts of protein. I haven’t tried using cake flour in this recipe, but I know that in general you can substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour by using 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour.
No. 68 — June 11th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
A++ The name sold me. I did the batter, but my own icing. And to be honest, these may be the best cupcakes ive done. Heavier than most chocolate cakes, a little like a brownie. I added a tbsp of Grand Marnier in one batch and in the other Coffee Liqueur. As icing i found some old butter cream type, heated it up. And i was drinking a banana, strawberry smoothie juice i just bought. Me being creative enough as it is, i dump some of my drink in the icing (Which made hint of a creamy strawberry shortcake icing). Top with a raspberry on the Grand Marnier batch and black berries on the other, it was my proudest baking moment. Lemmie say, it was fncking awesome. Thank you.
No. 69 — June 21st, 2012 at 1:11 am
I’ve made these twice (with chocolate chips, without the white chocolate drizzle) – both times fantastic. The first time they were perfect, the second time most of them deflated. I used a different brand of baking powder the two times I made them, so maybe that was the issue? I also used two different kids of chocolate chips – but I can’t imagine that was the issue. The second time I know I used medium eggs (we have a hard time getting large ones), I don’t know what I used the first. I also took them out at 23 minutes the second time – maybe longer baking set them more the first time?
No. 70 — September 11th, 2012 at 9:31 pm
So sad these looked awesome. Mine overflowed (i filled it less than halfway) and deflated once I poked it with a toothpick to make sure it was done. Oh well….
No. 71 — December 2nd, 2012 at 6:50 pm
Dark chocolates and milk chocolates are the best. -
<a href="My very own internet page
http://www.prettygoddess.com/index.php?board=9.0
No. 72 — January 12th, 2013 at 10:06 pm
I cannot believe how amazing and moist these were. Actually the perfect cupcake, thank you.
No. 73 — January 25th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
I made these today and mine turned out absolutely perfect! I am glad that I saw the note about them being flat because I would have thought I screwed them up. I actually like the fact they are flat because it is going to be easier to decorate. Thanks so much for the recipe!