Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes Recipe

For a printable version of the recipe, click here.

Yield – Makes approximately 24-28 cupcakes

Ingredients

• ¼ pound (4 ounces) of unsalted (room temperature) butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 5 large eggs
• 9 fluid ounces of your favourite chocolate syrup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
• *24-28 chocolate Turtles

*You can buy the name-brand Turtles, but bulk food stores usually carry them as well.  If you can’t find them, substitute some chocolate melts, a few pecans and a caramel square.

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Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 176 degrees C.  Line your muffin tin with liners.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Mix in the eggs, chocolate syrup and vanilla.  Add the flour and mix until just combined.
3. Scoop the batter into your cupcake liners with a spoon or ice cream scoop.
4. Bake for 26 minutes or until the center of the cupcake has just set. (I insert a barbeque skewer to check).
5. Take out the cupcakes, make a little hole in the center with a knife and insert a Turtle chocolate as far as the cupcake allows.
6. Bake for another 4 minutes.
7. Let the cupcakes cool thoroughly in the pan and then top with chocolate icing and *optional toppings.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing

For a printable version of the recipe, click here.

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Ingredients

• 24 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups 35% cream
• 1 tablespoon clear corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 ounces unsalted (room temperature) butter
• 16 ounces (1 lb) butter (It makes a lot of icing!)

Directions

1. Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate and cream together.  (Make your own version by placing a glass or stainless steel bowl on top of a pot with simmering water).   Stir occasionally until the chips are melted.
2. Off the heat, stir in the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it has thickened.

*Optional toppings – Caramel sauce, melted milk chocolate and small pieces of Turtles chocolates. I cheated and used the caramel dipping sauce from the supermarket, which you can usually find by the apples. One tip about applying the caramel; I heated it up in the microwave for about a minute, then put it in a canvas piping bag fitted with a #2 tip, and piped it on. This prevents big globs of caramel from falling on your cupcake (although that could be kind of yummy!). Squeeze bottles work really well for this and melted chocolate as well.