Cocoa Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream and Homemade White Chocolate Toppers

These yellow cupcakes look like vanilla cupcakes, and with all the vanilla cupcakes that I've been making lately, it's surprising that they aren't. Because they are made with cocoa butter instead of regular butter, they have a light, chocolaty flavor.  If you weren't told about their secret (as many of my tasters weren't), you'd suspect there was more to these seemingly simply cupcakes than plain vanilla - but you might not be able to guess the familiar flavor that made you go back for seconds.  Once I told you, you'd nod and taste the chocolate immediately!

Because the chocolate flavor is so understated, these cocoa butter cupcakes would be an ideal compromise cupcake to make for a family with some vanilla and some chocolate lovers.  You could top some of the cocoa butter cupcakes with chocolate whipped cream (as shown above) and some with vanilla whipped cream. 


Cocoa Butter Cupcake Recipe

Take a look at the nice crumb of this cupcake.  I loved the texture.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces cocoa butter, melted and cooled until still warm but not scorching hot (Be sure to use edible cocoa butter. Read my post on white chocolate for more about the cocoa butter that I used.)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup baker's sugar (You can use regular granulated sugar, but the baker's sugar makes the cupcakes a bit lighter.)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Mix in cocoa butter until fully combined.
3. Mix in eggs one at a time until fully combined. 
4. Mix in sugar and heavy whipping cream.  The batter will be thick - more like cookie dough than typical cupcake batter.
5. Divide batter evenly between 12 cupcake liners.  
6. Bake at 350 F for twenty minutes or until the cupcakes bounce back when touched lightly.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Recipe

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Whip the heavy whipping cream until it looks like whipped cream.
2. Mix in the vanilla, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar until just combined.
3. Spread or pipe on cooled cupcakes

White Chocolate Disc

I topped my cocoa butter cupcakes with homemade white chocolate discs.  White chocolate is easier to make than you might think (it takes less than five minutes in the microwave).  Read my post on white chocolate to learn how.


Want Some Cocoa Butter for Free?

Make sure that you are a Cupcake Project Facebook fan. I'll post the details there about how to win some cocoa butter in the very near future!