Chocolate Donut Cupcakes

This recipe was first published here on August 22nd, 2017 and has been updated with clearer images and more useful information.

Ingredients

All your regular cupcake ingredients are here – flour, sugar, butter, baking powder and eggs but there’s a few that will benefit from further explanation.

Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

• Chocolate: There are two types on these doughnut cupcakes. Dark chocolate is use for the “doughnut glaze” that sits on top of the cupcake and milk chocolate for the frosting.
• Glucose: This is in the glaze and keeps it silky. You can substitute this with light corn syrup.
• Cornflour (cornstarch): I use this a lot in my baking. The combination of flour and cornflour is essentially homemade cake flour.
• Cinnamon: This is what gives the cupcakes a little bit of doughnut.
• Buttermilk keeps the cupcakes super soft and tender.

1. Make the cupcake batter

Start by creaming together butter and sugar, then add eggs.

Now start alternating dry ingredients with the buttermilk until it comes together into a batter.

2. Portion and bake

Divide the batter equally among 12 cupcake cases, then bake.

3. The chocolate glaze

Once cooled, mix together the glaze ingredients and top the cupcakes

4. How to make whipped milk chocolate frosting

This is one of my favourite frosting recipes. It tastes just like milk chocolate but is super light and fluffy.

Again, you’ll start by beating together butter and sugar (but this time icing / powdered sugar). Now add cream and beat it again until fluffy.

Now add some melted milk chocolate and beat again until whipped and fluffy

5. Top the cupcakes

Pipe the frosting onto your doughnut cupcakes

All they need now is a donut cookie to top them off.

Variations

• Cinnamon sugar: You can swap the chocolate glaze for a cinnamon sugar instead. Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar with a ¼-½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon (depending on how strong you like it) then dust the top of the cupcakes with the cinnamon sugar before frosting.
• Jam donut: Cut a 2.5cm/1inch hole in the top of the cupcakes and fill them with raspberry jam or strawberry jam.
• Chocolate fudge frosting will give you an extra rich chocolate cinnamon cupcake.
• Cinnamon frosting: Why not double down on the cinnamon flavour!

More recipes you’ll love

• Monster Cupcakes
• Donut Cookies (Cinnamon Sugar Cookies) – the topper on these cupcakes.
• Jam-filled Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
• Cinnamon Baked Cake Donuts with Caramel Brown Butter Icing
• Cinnamon Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Frosting
• Apple Pie Cupcakes with Salted Maple Buttercream Frosting
• Confetti cupcakes

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Did you try this donut cupcakes recipe?
Leaving a rating and comment below the recipe is so helpful!

Hungry for more?

• Subscribe via Email, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
• Add Sugar Salt Magic as a Google Preferred Source.

Chocolate Donut Cupcakes (with Whipped Chocolate Frosting)

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

0 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

4.7 from 3 ratings

These fluffy donut cupcakes are a cinnamon cupcake topped with chocolate glaze and a whipped chocoalte frosting. A little donut cookies is the topping on the cake.

Print Rate Pin

Ingredients

FOR THE CINNAMON CUPCAKES

• ▢ 165 g plain flour (all-purpose flour) (1 ¼ cups / 6oz)
• ▢ 25 g cornflour (US cornstarch) (1oz)
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 150 g light brown sugar (¾ cup packed / 5.3oz)
• ▢ 113 g unsalted butter softened (½ cup / 1 stick)
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 2 large eggs room temp
• ▢ ½ cup buttermilk room temp (125ml)

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

• ▢ 100 g dark chocolate (50% cocoa solids) finely chopped (½ cup)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28g / 1oz)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons glucose syrup or light corn syrup
• ▢ 2 teaspoons water

FOR THE WHIPPED MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING:

• ▢ 226 g unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks / 1 cup)
• ▢ 325 g icing sugar (powdered sugar) sifted (2 ½ cups / 11.5oz)
• ▢ 200 g milk chocolate (1 cup / 7oz)
• ▢ ⅓ cup whipping cream (80ml)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Get Instant Help

For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided

Equipment

• ▢
  A medium ice cream scoop is perfect for portioning the cupcake batter
• ▢
  A handheld beater or stand mixer will make mixing easier.
• ▢
  A silicone spatula makes sure nothing gets left behind

Instructions

 

• FOR THE CINNAMON CUPCAKES:

  Line a 12 hole muffin / cupcake silicone or tin moulds with paper cases. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F.
• Sift together the flour, cornflour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix well.
• In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing thoroughly between each. Scrape down the sides again, add the vanilla beat for a further minute.
• It’s very important not to over mix once you start adding the flour mixture so, either using the lowest speed on the stand mixer or using a spatula, gently mix one third of the flour into the butter / egg mix until just combined.
• Add a half of the buttermilk until just mixed through. Repeat flour, milk, last of the flour each time mixing until just combined.
• Divide the batter evenly between the 12 cupcake cases. Bake for around 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a crumb or two clinging to it.
• Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pans and placing them on cooling racks to cool completely.
• FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

  Once the cupcakes are cool, add all chocolate glaze ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring well between each until you have a smooth glaze. Spread 2 teaspoons of the glaze over the top of each cupcake.
• FOR THE FROSTING:

  Microwave the milk chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring well between each, until just melted. Set aside and allow to cool.
• Beat together the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
• Add the cream and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated
• Fold in the melted & cooled chocolate with a spatula, then beat on medium-high for around 3 minutes. It should be smooth and creamy.
• Spread or use a piping bag to pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes.
• Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.

Notes

1. Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
2. I used my donut cookies recipe to make some cute little doughnut cookies – just top them with some melted chocolate and sprinkle.
3. For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
4. I use corn starch a lot in my baking. Cake flour is a combination of all-purpose and corn starch but in Australia is not so readily available. I use this combo in my recipes a lot instead of using cake flour.

MORE CUPCAKE RECIPES!

Calories: 612kcal

Author: Marie Roffey

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Love this recipe?Add Sugar Salt Magic as a preferred Google source.

Nutrition information is approximate only and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use and any changes you make may cause variations.

Whipped Chocolate Buttercream adapted from this recipe.