Happy Friday! The new Cruella movie officially releases today and so in preparation to watch it tonight, I made these Cruella Cupcakes! These devil’s food cake cupcakes are made with black cocoa powder and have deep, rich chocolate flavor. To balance it out, the cupcakes are filled with creamy vanilla buttercream and topped with a mix of vanilla and black chocolate buttercream to mirror Cruella’s iconic hair!
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The cupcakes themselves are straightforward to make, but I do use one special ingredient. Since Cruella typically associated with white and black, I swapped out my regular unsweetened cocoa powder for black cocoa powder. Black cocoa powder is darker than regular cocoa powder in both color and flavor. I find that the black cocoa powder tastes a lot like an Oreo cookie. I typically buy black cocoa powder online at King Arthur Baking but if you don’t have any or don’t like the taste, you can just substitute the same amount of regular cocoa powder in both the cake recipe and the frosting recipe. If you use regular cocoa powder and still want to get the black color, just add some black gel food coloring to the batter and the frosting. Since you’re starting from a darker color, you won’t need a lot!
To make the cupcakes, first preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare your muffin pan. For these cupcakes, I used red foil cupcake liners. The movie uses a lot of red, white, and black, and I felt like the dark red metallic color of these liners really matched that aesthetic.
Next, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and black cocoa powder in a large bowl. Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until combined, about 2 mintues. Stir in the boiling water. Don’t worry, the batter is supposed to be thin and runny!
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once they’ve come to room temperature, you can place the cupcakes in the refrigerator while you make the frosting. Having the cupcakes chilled will make removing the centers a little easier later.
To decorate the cupcakes, I used two kinds of frosting so that I could have the frosting mirror Cruella’s hair. The first is a plain vanilla buttercream and the second is a chocolate buttercream made with the black cocoa powder. If you’re using regular cocoa powder, you can substitute the same amount and add a couple drops of black food coloring.
For the vanilla buttercream, beat the butter and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Add the powdered sugar and the milk and beat until combined. Then, beat on high speed until the frosting is fluffy. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. I used a #12 Wilton tip.
For the chocolate buttercream, combine the melted butter and black cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Alternately, add the powdered sugar and milk. Beat until the frosting is spreadable, then stir in the vanilla. You’ll also need a medium round piping tip for this frosting, so if you have a second medium round piping tip, you can transfer to a piping bag with the tip right away. If not, you can leave the frosting in the bowl until you’ve finished with the vanilla buttercream.
To fill the cupcakes, first use an apple corer to remove the centers of each cupcake. Next, pipe the vanilla buttercream into the centers of each cupcake. Then, pipe small dollops of vanilla buttercream in lines on one half of each cupcake. Then, pipe small dollops of the chocolate buttercream onto the other half of each cupcake.
Enjoy these devilish Cruella Cupcakes!
If you’re looking for some other 101 Dalmatians themed treats, be sure to check out my 101 Dalmatians Milkshakes and Peanut Butter Puppy Paw Print Cookies!
Cruella Cupcakes
Ingredients
Black Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup + 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6 tablespoons black cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup boiling water
Vanilla Buttercream
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Black Chocolate Buttercream
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup black cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablesppons milk
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin pan
- red cupcake liners
- 2 piping bags
- medium round piping tip (Wilton #12)
Instructions
Black Chocolate Cupcakes
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Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with red cupcake liners.
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In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and black cocoa powder.
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Add egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until combined, about 2 minutes.
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Stir in boiling water. Batter will be thin and runny.
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Pour batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each cup about ⅔ full.
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Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
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Cool cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Vanilla Buttercream
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In a medium bowl, beat the butter and vanilla until smooth.
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Add the powdered sugar and milk and beat until combined.
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Beat on high speed until fluffy.
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Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip.
Black Chocolate Buttercream
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Combine the melted butter and black cocoa powder in a medium bowl.
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Alternately, add the powdered sugar and milk. Beat until spreadable.
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Stir in the vanilla.
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Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. If you don’t have a second piping tip, leave the frosting in the bowl until you’ve finished with the vanilla buttercream. Then, clean the piping tip and transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with the tip.
Assembly
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Using an apple corer, remove the center of each cupcake. If the cupcakes feel sticky and are hard to work with, place them in the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes.
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Fill each cupcake with vanilla buttercream by placing the tip of the piping bag in the center of the cupcake and applying even pressure on the bag until the frosting fills the cupcake.
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To decorate the cupcakes, pipe the vanilla buttercream in small dollops on half of each cupcake. To make a dollop, press the piping bag gently until the frosting comes out in a small round. Release the pressure on the bag and pull it upwards. This will pull the frosting up a little bit and make a dollop.
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Next, pipe the black chocolate buttercream in small dollops on the unfrosted half of each cupcake.