Neapolitan Surprise Cupcakes

I hesitated to call these Neapolitan Surprise Cupcakes because surprise food usually makes me uneasy.

I’m a picky eater — partly because my stomach reacts to some ingredients, and partly because I have a very sensitive palate. My father jokes I should become a wine taster since I can pick out subtle fruit notes in wine, even though I’m not a fan of wine or those fruits. So if someone offers me a surprise dish, I often decline unless I’m told exactly what’s inside. That defeats the point of a surprise, but I’d rather know than be disappointed.

These cupcakes, however, are a welcome surprise. They would be even more delightful if you truly kept the filling a secret. Light chocolate cupcakes are filled with a hidden cone of buttercream — half the batch has a strawberry centre with vanilla swirls, and the other half the reverse — then each cupcake is dipped into a glossy dark chocolate shell.

The “surprise” filling is easy to make: pipe a cone of one buttercream into the centre of each cupcake using a round tip, then pipe a contrasting swirl around it with a star tip. It looks intricate but is very straightforward.

(Apologies for the jerky gif — forgive the odd sentence.)

I didn’t bother to completely enclose the buttercream with chocolate, so you can tell which cupcakes are which. If you prefer a total surprise, take a little extra care when dipping to ensure the buttercream is fully hidden.

A teacup is a perfect vessel for the dipping chocolate because it’s deep enough to cover the swirl but narrow enough to dip the cupcake without getting chocolate all over your fingers. Whatever container you use should be just deep enough so the swirl doesn’t touch the bottom and just wide enough to dip the cupcake.

Hold the cupcake by the top of the paper and dip it into the chocolate until the paper edge almost touches the surface. Wiggle gently so the chocolate reaches into the swirls, lift out and let excess drip back into the cup.

If you can resist eating them immediately, they need about half an hour at room temperature to set. You can speed this up by chilling them briefly, but avoid prolonged refrigeration as moisture can make the cupcake papers pull away from the cakes.

Light chocolate cupcakes topped with strawberry and vanilla Swiss meringue buttercreams, dipped in a shiny dark chocolate shell.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Cuisine: American

Category: Cupcake Recipes

Author: Natalie | Sweetness & Bite

Makes: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

175 ml just-boiled water
100 g dark chocolate (at least 50% cacao)
280 g flour (all purpose or gluten free blend)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp xanthan gum (omit if using regular wheat flour)
1½ tsp baking soda
175 g butter, softened
140 g brown sugar
140 g caster sugar (or granulated)
1½ tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
180 g sour cream

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

210 g egg whites (about 7)
325 g sugar (caster or granulated)
Pinch of salt
450 g unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
A few drops pink food colouring (optional)

For the Chocolate Dip:

400 g dark chocolate, chopped (50–60% cacao)
3 tbsp flavourless oil (rice bran, canola or refined coconut oil)

Instructions

Cupcakes

Heat oven to 180°C (350°F). Line two 12-hole muffin tins with papers.
Chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof jug. Pour over the just-boiled water and stir until melted. Leave to cool.
Sift together flour, xanthan gum (if using), cocoa and baking soda.
Beat softened butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on medium speed until very light and fluffy. Whisk eggs in a small jug and add gradually, beating well between additions. If mixture starts to curdle, add a tablespoon of the flour mixture.
On low speed, add the flour mixture and the cooled chocolate mixture alternately, beating briefly between additions. Scrape the bowl, add sour cream and mix on low until just combined. Finish folding by hand to ensure even mixing.
Fill cupcake papers about halfway with batter and bake 15–18 minutes, until they spring back when touched and a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Thoroughly clean the whisk and mixer bowl. Combine egg whites and sugar in the bowl and place over simmering water. Stir until sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 71°C (160°F).
Whip in the mixer on medium for one minute, then medium-high until the meringue is stiff and glossy and the bowl is cool to the touch.
Switch to the paddle attachment and add butter piece by piece on low until incorporated. If it appears to separate, keep mixing on low until smooth. Add vanilla and beat to combine.
Remove half the buttercream to another bowl. Sift strawberry powder into the remaining half and add food colouring if using. Beat on low until combined.
Prepare two piping bags with large couplers. Fit a round tip to the vanilla bag and pipe a cone of vanilla onto half the cupcakes; fit a round tip to the strawberry bag and pipe cones onto the other half. Replace the round tip on the strawberry bag with a star tip and pipe swirls around vanilla cones. Rinse and repeat for the opposite flavour. Chill while you prepare the chocolate dip.

Chocolate Dip

Place chocolate and oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 50% power for 1 minute, stir, then heat in 30-second bursts at 50% power, stirring between bursts, until melted and smooth.
Pour some chocolate into a deep cup or small bowl, leaving about 1 cm of space. Hold the cupcake by the top of the paper and dip until the paper edge almost touches the chocolate surface. Wiggle gently so the chocolate coats the swirls, lift out and let excess drip off. Use a skewer dipped in chocolate to cover any small gaps.
After dipping all cupcakes, chill for 10 minutes to set the chocolate or leave at room temperature until set. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days.

Notes

For gluten-free cupcakes use a gluten-free flour blend. If your blend already contains a gum, omit the xanthan gum.
If not gluten-free, use all-purpose wheat flour and omit xanthan gum.
Freeze-dried strawberry powder is available from gourmet food shops and some supermarkets.
To create the surprise filling you’ll need two piping bags, two large couplers, a large star tip (e.g. Wilton 1M) and a large round tip (e.g. Wilton 1A). If you have duplicates you won’t need to rinse tips between colours.

Natalie
xx