Cake & Bake: Chocolate cupcakes with swiss meringue buttercream

You know those times when you just can't stop thinking about chocolate?
Yesterday I had one of those days and this is the consequence.

Today I bring you chocolate cupcakes and minicupcakes. Very easy to make and delicious for any special occasion or just for breakfast.

Ingredients for 12 minicupcakes and 10 cupcakes

220g of granulated sugar
180g of all purpose flour
40g of unsweetened cocoa powder

115g of unsalted butter (room temperature)
3 eggs
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
120ml of milk

We whisk together the flour, the cocoa powder and the baking powder. We reserve aside.
We beat the sugar with the butter until they are well combined and then we add the eggs one by one while we keep mixing on low speed. We add half of our dry mix and the milk. We beat on low speed until everything is well integrated and then we add the other half of the dry mix. We keep mixing until we get a smooth and shiny batter.

We distribute the batter in our molds using an icecream scoop so all the cupcakes come out with the same size. In the minicupcakes I put one scoop and in the cupcakes I put two.
We bake the minicupcakes for about 12 minutes at 180ºC. For the cupcakes we use the same temperature but it will take 22 minutes to get them ready.

We let them cool in a rack before pipping the frosting on top.

We are making a swiss meringue frosting which combines perfectly with the chocolate of our cupcakes.

Ingredients
225g of granulated sugar
4 egg whites
350g of unsalted butter (room temperature)

We put the sugar and the egg whites in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (bain marie) whisking until the sugar is totally melted. It is important not to stop whisking at any time.