Black Cupcakes

Get ready for the spookiest cupcakes you'll ever make. Gloriously dark and perfect for Halloween, these Black Cupcakes are made with just seven ingredients. They start with a boxed chocolate cake mix and a magical ingredient that turns them black.

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Cupcakes are a hit at any dessert table or party, and these always get rave reviews. With the help of black cocoa powder, they go beyond your typical chocolate cupcake, turning a striking, deep black. Top them with black cocoa buttercream for an all-black treat to impress all the ghouls and goblins.

Now, before we dive into this recipe, consider yourself warned. This cocoa powder likes to fly away as all cocoa powder does, and yes, if the powder lands on something like maybe your white shirt, it will get black. Never fear, though; I found by experience that it washes out.

Jump to:

• Black cocoa powder
• Recipe Highlights
• Black Cupcake Ingredients
• How To Bake Black Cupcakes
• Variations
• More Recipes
• FAQ's
• Equipment needed
• More cake recipes
• Recipe

Black cocoa powder

Here is the magical ingredient that turns these cupcakes into a deep, dark black color: cocoa powder. You can also use cocoa powder to make the black frosting.

Black Cupcake Ingredients

The cake ingredients

• Chocolate cake mix - use your favorite brand - I like Duncan Hines Devil's Food cake mix
• Water
• Large Eggs
• Vegetable oil
• Black cocoa powder
• Coffee - This is used to bloom the cocoa powder. You can substitute water.

The buttercream frosting ingredients

• Powdered sugar - this is for the buttercream frosting
• Butter - salted or unsalted works for this recipe
• Black cocoa powder
• Milk or cream - this will smooth out the frosting and make it creamy
• Chocolate - semi-sweet or dark chocolate tastes the best
• Coffee -mixing coffee with chocolate helps to enhance the chocolate flavor. You won't taste the coffee, but if you are not a coffee drinker, you can substitute a good quality vanilla, or make homemade vanilla for the best flavor.

How To Bake Black Cupcakes

Step 1. First, heat the coffee and dissolve the black cocoa powder. This is called BLOOMING, and it gives the cocoa a richer flavor and dissolves it so it incorporates it into the cake batter. Optionally, you can substitute water for the coffee.

Step 2. Add the dry cake mix to a large mixing bowl and follow the box instructions by adding the water, eggs, and oil. You can use a handheld mixer or a stand mixer. Mix the batter for two minutes, then scrape the bowl.

Step 3. Add the bloomed black cocoa to the cake batter and mix again for about one minute until the batter is thoroughly mixed, then scrape the bowl again.

Step 4. Pour the batter into lined muffin tins, filling ⅔ full. 

Cupcake tip: Use a cookie scoop to proportion the exact amount of cupcake batter. You want to fill the muffin tin ⅔ full of batter, which is about ¼ cup, or use a #20 cookie scoop (it's 2 inches wide), which is also ¼ cup, and your cupcake batter will be proportioned perfectly. Read this cookie scoop guide to understand all the different sizes of scoops.

Step 5.  Bake the cupcakes in the center of the oven at 350˚F for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely.

Making the buttercream frosting

Step 6. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20-second intervals until melted, stirring between intervals. I did this three times. Set aside to cool while mixing the other frosting ingredients.

Step 7. Whisk the powdered sugar and the black cocoa powder together in a large bowl. This will help break up any lumps and combine the two ingredients.

Step 8. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the room-temperature butter for about a minute until it is light and fluffy. Then, add the powdered sugar/cocoa powder mixture to the butter in one-cup increments. If you add this all at once, powder will fly everywhere.

Step 9. Mix in the melted chocolate and add one tablespoon of the coffee or cream. Mix this for one minute. Add additional coffee or cream or both until the icing is smooth and creamy.

Note - As this icing sits, the black color becomes darker.

Step 10. Frost the cupcakes with the buttercream and decorate with sprinkles.

You can frost these cupcakes with a knife or pipe the frosting on them. You can use various icing tips, but I used a #2D rosette tip for these cupcakes.

Step 11. If you use sprinkles to decorate the cupcakes, add them immediately so they stick to the icing.

The all-black cupcake is always a favorite.

Variations

• You can make these cupcakes for other holidays or for special times by just changing the sprinkles. Valentine's red heart sprinkles look beautiful on the black, or you can use Valentine's Day sprinkle mix.
• Also, using a colorful confetti sprinkle mix looks nice on the black frosting.
• Another option is to make a white buttercream for black and white cupcakes.

More Recipes

If you like to use box mixes to create luscious desserts, try these recipes, which are just as quick and easy as these cupcakes.

• This Banana Cake with Caramel is flavored with vanilla bean seeds for major flavor. This recipe uses a boxed yellow cake.
• The kids love making this Mountain Dew Bundt Cake for their parties. For a very lemony cake, grab a boxed lemon cake mix and a can of Mountain Dew.
• We have made these Peanut Butter Cup Brownies so many times I've lost count. You need a brownie mix and peanut butter cups.

FAQ's

Equipment needed

• Muffin pans
• Cookie scoop
• Icing bags
• Icing knife
• #2D icing tip
• Mixer

More cake recipes

Because who doesn't like cake?

Recipe

First published: August 14, 2022, Last updated: October 24, 2024 for better readability.

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About Jere' Cassidy

From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. My happy place is turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family. I am glad to share sweet, savory, family-friendly recipes for your cooking and baking inspiration.

About Jere'