These Chocolate Cupcakes in the Air Fryer decorated with chocolate buttercream are any chocoholic's dream come true. The chocolate sponge is moist, rich and chocolatey, while the buttercream frosting is silky, smooth and intensely chocolatey. You won't even believe how quickly you can whip up these chocolate cupcakes, the sponges are out of the air fryer in just 12 minutes, and the buttercream takes no time to be ready. What a treat!
Just when you think there isn't much else you can make in an air fryer, a recipe likes this one simply blows your mind and makes you pat yourself on your back for the brilliant idea of purchasing an air fryer in the first place.
I mean, air fryers are great for any kind of roasts, and veggies and sweet and savoury bites, but these cupcakes are a game-changer for me! No more turning a huge oven on just for a batch of cupcakes.
And, the baking time is way reduced, from roughly 20 minutes for a regular cupcake, to 12 in the air fryer! No preheating either, so not only it saves you time, but it also saves you money by not consuming so much electricity/gas etc.
Cupcakes are just brilliant little beauties that taste as amazing as they look. And boy, don't they just look delicious?! Inspired by my Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream recipe, these chocolate buttercream cupcakes are sheer indulgent.
Moist, with a buttery but surprisingly light sponge, a deep rich chocolate flavour, air fried to an absolute perfection, it really can't get any better than that!
Birthday parties, family-get together, potluck, or any celebration througout the year, you can never go wrong with some yummy cupcakes. Totally addictive!
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Ingredients used to make the chocolate sponges
- butter - it can be cold butter, it gets added to the milk and melted, so it doesn't make any difference if it's cold or room temperature
- sugar - just your regular granulated sugar, or caster sugar if that's what you have around
- flour - plain flour would do, no need for self-raising flour, unless that's the only flour you have around
- egg - at room temperature
- milk - unlike a traditional cupcake sponge, this recipe calls for hot milk, rather than cold, it helps achieve a moist and light sponge, the batter is thinner than a regular cake sponge batter
- baking powder - the raising agent
- cocoa powder - for a chocolatey taste
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- in a pan set over a medium heat, pour in the milk, add the butter cut into cubes, and let it simmer until the butter is melted
- remove it from the heat and set aside
- in a mixing bowl, add the sugar and egg, and use a hand mixer to beat them well to get a light, smooth mixture ( see photo 3)
- sift in the flour and cocoa powder, add the baking powder and milk mixture, and use a spatula to mix everything together into a smooth batter ( see photo 5)
- divide the batter evenly between 12 silicone muffin/cupcake cakes and arrange them onto the air fryer drawer - work in batches if the cases don't all fit in one go
- air fry for 12 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius (320 Fahrenheit)
- remove the sponges from the air fryer and leave them to cool down completely
Ingredients used to make the chocolate buttercream frosting
- butter - it has to be very soft, or it won't cream well and the buttercream will be lumpy
- icing sugar - confectioners' sugar, well sifted to avoid a gritty buttercream
- cocoa powder - as with the sugar, the cocoa powder must be sifted well
- milk - to loosen up the buttercream
How to make chocolate buttercream frosting
- add all the ingredients to a blender or kitchen aid and blitz until you get a smooth cream
- alternatively, add the ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and use a hand mixer to beat everything together until smooth
Expert tips
Silicone cupcake or muffin cases are a must for the air fryer, I actually love using them in the oven too, even if I use a muffin tin, as the sponges pop out straight away and do not stick at all to the cases.
There is no need to grease and flour silicone cases either, and while the paper cases stick badly to the baked sponges, you don't have this issue with the silicone ones.
The silicone cases might be smaller than the regular paper cases or muffin tin holes, so you may end up with more cupcakes, but these will be slightly smaller, which is absolutely fine.
If you want to bake the cupcakes in the oven, the baking time will be a bit longer, I usually bake them at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
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Chocolate Cupcakes in the Air Fryer
Ingredients
For the sponges
- 125 g plain flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 85 g butter
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 125 ml milk
For the chocolate buttercream
- 300 g icing sugar ( confectioners' sugar)
- 150 g butter, soft
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a pan set over a medium heat.
- Cut the butter into cubes and add it to the pan.
- Leave it to simmer until the butter is melted, then remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
- Add the sugar and eggs to a large mixing bowl, and use a hand mixer to beat them together until the eggs are have a pale yellow colour.
- Sift in the flour and the cocoa powder, add the baking powder, and use a spatula to mix them into a smooth batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between 12 silicone cupcake/muffin cases, and arrange them in the air fryer drawer - work in batches as they won't all fit in at once.
- Air fry them for 12 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius (320 Fahrenheit) until the sponges are well risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Repeat the process with the rest of the cupcakes, then arrange the sponges on a cooling rack to cool down completely.
- To make the chocolate buttercream, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder and add them to a blender or kitchen aid together with the soft butter and milk.
- Blitz until you get a smooth cream.
- Use a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle to decorate each cupcake with the chocolate buttercream.
Video
Notes
- Silicone cupcake or muffin cases are a must for the air fryer, I actually love using them in the oven too, even if I use a muffin tin, as the sponges pop out straight away and do not stick at all to the cases.
- There is no need to grease and flour silicone cases either, and while the paper cases stick badly to the baked sponges, you don't have this issue with the silicone ones.
- If you want to bake the cupcakes in the oven, the baking time will be a bit longer, I usually bake them at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
Nutrition
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