It’s good to be back in the kitchen!! Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Cupcakes with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
It was a very exciting night in our house. We came home to a fully functioning kitchen AND I got some belated birthday gifts in the mail (thanks Dad!). Included in the package from my dad was Martha Stewart’s new cupcake book. I knew it was a sign that I needed to make cupcakes to break in my new stove.
I decided to go with the buttermilk cupcakes since I had buttermilk in the fridge. These cupcakes might become my go-to non-chocolate cupcake. They are very tender and have a great flavor.
I topped them with the chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. I’m a huge fan of SMBC, and have never tried the chocolate variation before. This frosting has a very subtle chocolate flavor that paired nicely with the cupcake (this frosting would also be great on chocolate cupcakes).
I decided to use some of my colored cupcake liners to brighten things up a bit. I ended up getting 3 dozen cupcakes from this recipe. I made a half batch of the frosting and it frosted 31 of my cupcakes. That’s ok though because we just “taste tested” the naked ones.
I also wanted to share my new cupcake container. I used to have the Wilton one which is somewhat big and awkward and it only holds 12 cupcakes. The bigger problem is that it wouldn’t fit into our new cabinets (before the renovation, I just kept it on top of the cabinets). But I found this double decker one at Container Store and it’s perfect. Not only does it fit in our cabinets, it also holds two dozen cupcakes. And since the layers snap together, if you only had 1 dozen cupcakes, it would work great for that too. We both agree this cupcake carrier is much better than the old one.
Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes – from MarthaStewart.com (the same recipe is in the cookbook) – makes 36 cupcakes
3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 large whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium. Add whole eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add yolks, and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and beating until combined after each. Beat in vanilla.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until cupcakes spring back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks and let cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream – from MarthaStewart.com – I made a 1/2 batch of this since I had 3 egg yolks left from the cupcakes. Here is the full batch recipe which makes 4 cups
5 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Combine egg whites, and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar has dissolved and whites are hot to the touch, 5 to 7 minutes.
Transfer bowl to the electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, mix on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed, until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 10 minutes.
At low speed, add butter to egg whites, and beat until smooth. Add vanilla, chocolate, and salt, and continue mixing until incorporated.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Dark chocolate truffles in cookie form? Um, YES!!! I’ll take a dozen for myself and another dozen for later, please.
Wow – these sound good! and I truly do not understand how people can just “not be into chocolate!” It is my favorite!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:26 pm
Yea, I really don’t get it either. Oh well, more for me!
Oh wow, chocolate truffle cookies sound divine! These look ridiculously good! Love that they’re salted too!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:27 pm
I have been sprinkling salt on all of my cookies recently. It makes them much more adult and less super-sweet.
Yum these look divine!
I’m always in need of a chocolate fix! I have several friends that claim they are not chocolate people, yet I find whenever I make something chocolate + salt, they are all over it!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:28 pm
I definitely find that people who claim they aren’t chocolate people rarely say no to any homemade baked goods. Chocolate or otherwise.
Oh my! These look divine 🙂 I’d love to make these babies soon!
these look amazing!! and how thick that batter is 🙂 love the sea salt!
beantownbaker — May 8th, 2013 @ 8:29 pm
The batter was basically ganache. You could have just made truffles from it directly.
I love any and all things dark chocolate. These look so decadent!
I’m curious to find out what blog platform you’re working with?
I’m having some minor security problems with my latest blog and I’d like to find something
more safeguarded. Do you have any suggestions?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:56 pm
I use WordPress
Wow! Those look so perfectly decadent! I’m practically drooling on my screen 😉
Just made these. Worried I didn’t bake them long enough… however they still tasted divine. Waiting to get the verdict from my husband on them.
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:11 pm
I think underbaking these sounds like a great idea. I might have to do that next time.
Since I’m trying this recipe for the first time, can I halve the entire recipe?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:12 pm
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I didn’t see this comment until now! I don’t see why you couldn’t make a half batch of these cookies. Did you try it? How did they turn out?
These are the most amazing chocolate cookies I have ever made. Everyone with whom I have shared them have gone absolutly nuts and want the recipe. I do not wet my hands when rolling the cookies into balls—too messy. I just let my hands get sticky and rinse and dry them after making several balls. This is one of the best recipes on Pinterest.
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 12:13 pm
Thanks for the kind words! So glad you enjoy these cookies. I was wondering if getting my hands wet actually helped with the messiness very much. Next time I’ll be sure to just go at it without dealing with the water.
Hey! I tried halving the recipe…but it melted while in the oven. Became runny & all of them just stuck together 🙁
I tried just one batch. Anything I can do to fix the remaining batter?
beantownbaker — June 18th, 2013 @ 4:01 pm
Interesting… How did you account for half of an egg? And is your baking powder past it’s expiration date?
Ohh! Looks like I’ve added a lil too much egg. Damn! Any way I can fix the batter? Add more flour perhaps? Plz help!
beantownbaker — June 19th, 2013 @ 7:12 am
I’d add a little more flour to see if you can balance out the extra amount of egg in there.
I added 1/4 cup more flour & a teensy bit of baking powder to my messed up batter & they came out wonderfully! They’re so gooey & yumm that my husband & son (who never eats chocolate!) finished six cookies at one go!
Amazing recipe!! Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it !
beantownbaker — June 20th, 2013 @ 7:00 am
Oh GOOD! So glad you were able to make them work. Aren’t they divine?
U bet! They are sinfully delicious! Sent some in my son’s snack pack & I have mommies calling for these cookies!
I’m officially ur No.1 fan now! 🙂
beantownbaker — June 20th, 2013 @ 7:18 am
Aww Thanks! 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I could put them in the freezer instead of the fridge for a shorter period of time? If so, how long should I put them in the freezer for instead of the fridge?
beantownbaker — June 27th, 2013 @ 8:06 am
Hm. You could definitely try it. I would think it’s still going to need an hour or so in the freezer since you want it to set up pretty well. Let me know how it turns out if you do.