Chocolate Vanilla Cupcakes

Classic chocolate together with timeless vanilla in a perfect cupcake. The white cake is moist with a bottom chocolate layer infused with cocoa and mini chips. The rich decadent frosting  on these cupcakes is, of course, chocolate and vanilla. Read on, though, for some other fun frosting ideas to pair with these Chocolate Vanilla Cupcakes.

When you can’t decide between chocolate or vanilla, have both. That’s what happened here; a white cake mix was split in two and the bottom half became chocolate. This fun pairing of two complimentary flavors is great for parties and looks like a lot of work went into them. We’ll take the easy route here, though, ok?

Keeping chocolate vanilla cupcakes simple

I love made-from-scratch cupcakes every bit as much as I love a boxed cake mix. They’re both moist and super delicious, but of course, the box is easier. So yeah, I grabbed a box of white cake mix for these beauties.

After making the batter as directed on the box, plus some added extracts, I poured half the batter into another bowl. I didn’t measure the batter precisely, I just gave it the ole eagle eye. The first bowl is your vanilla flavor, let’s leave that bowl alone. To the second bowl, however, add some Hershey’s cocoa and some mini chocolate chips. This creates your chocolate layer.

Have your pans ready with cupcake liners in them, then spoon the chocolate layer in first.  Next, add your vanilla layer on top and bake as directed on the box. So far so good?

When they come out of the oven, let them sit for about 5 minutes in the pan, then remove them to cool on a wire rack. Now let’s talk frosting!

Piping dual colored frosting

If we’re keeping it simple, then we’re using canned frosting. Homemade frosting usually pipes better, because you control the consistency, but canned will work great for this recipe. One way of helping canned frosting to pipe better is to cool it in the frig for about 10 minutes first.

To pipe dual colors, start by placing about 12″ of clear wrap on the counter. Then starting in the middle from the left edge, spread some vanilla frosting onto the clear wrap, about 6″ long. Don’t make it too long or it won’t fit inside your piping bag.

Follow by spreading a chocolate layer right on top of the vanilla layer. Now make a tube with the wrap by grabbing the top edge and folding it over to meet the bottom edge. Fold a few times tightly sealing the frosting inside. Twist the right end tightly, the open left end is where the frosting will come out of. Now place the open end of the tube inside a piping bag with the tip already in place.

I used a Wilton 1M tip for these cupcakes. Now squeeze from the top. This helps keep the two colors from mixing too much.

Frosting, frosting, and more frosting

Frosting is my favorite part. You might have guessed, right? It is. Also great with these cupcakes is Strawberry Buttercream and Mocha Frosting. Check out below how pretty these look.

Now that you’re a pro at frosting dual colored cupcakes, use the same technique to frost hydrangeas on these Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes. Or if you’re feeling confident, and you should, try out 3 colors like in this Pumpkin Pudding Cake with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting. The length is the same, 6″, but add a little less frosting to each layer so that it doesn’t become too thick to fit inside the piping bag.

Did you pin one of these pictures yet to your Pinterest board? Here are some great sizes. Happy baking, my friend, and have a blessed day.

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