Marble Fudge Cupcakes

My husband celebrated his Dirty Thirty last week! I have such an old man... I kid.

And what is his favorite cake of all time you may ask? Marble fudge! He loves the swirl of chocolate and vanilla so I knew I wanted to make a variation for his special day!

I ran across this recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction. I absolutely LOVE her blog.

The cupcakes start with an easy vanilla cupcake and transition into a thick chocolate cake with the simple addition of cocoa powder. So, I decided to forgo my cupcake anxiety and make this simple recipe for the hubs to enjoy!

Now, lets make cupcakes shall we?

For the Cupcakes:
(makes 14 regular sized cupcakes)
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon whole milk, divided
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Milk Chocolate Frosting:
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt

Vanilla Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.
Start by making the cupcakes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter over high for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until completely melted. Whisk the sugar into the butter and chill in the fridge for one minute.
Place butter-sugar mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer, add in the egg, sour cream, 3/4 cup of milk and vanilla until combined. Slowly add in your dry ingredients until combined and no lumps remain. Batter will be thick. Transfer 3/4 cup of batter into a bowl and add in the cocoa powder and 1 Tablespoon of milk. Stir until combined. Chocolate batter will be quite thick.
Spoon 1 Tablespoon of vanilla batter into the bottom of your lined muffin tin, top with 1 Tablespoon of chocolate batter, and top with another spoonful of vanilla batter. Fill cupcake tins until 2/3 of the way full.

With a toothpick or skewer, gently swirl batters together and bake in preheated oven for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from pan and place on cooling rack to cool completely.

To  make the frosting's:
In your clean stand mixer, start with the vanilla frosting. Cream the butter over medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in the sugar, cream, vanilla, and salt. Feel free to add more cream if the frosting is too thick or sugar if the frosting is too thin. Beat on medium until desired consistency is achieved and transfer to a bowl.

Using the same bowl, start your chocolate frosting by creaming the softened butter over medium for 2 minutes.In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar a cocoa powder until no lumps remain. Alternating between the cocoa mixture and the heavy cream, add into the butter until combined. Add in the salt and vanilla.

To achieve THE SWIRL!
In a piping bag or large Ziploc, cup a tip and place your preferred piping tip inside. Fill half of the bag, pushing slightly into the tip with vanilla frosting then chocolate into the other half. Leave room at the top to twist off the bag.

Frost your desired amount onto the tops of cupcakes and serve! Cupcakes can be kept in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
I love the swirls of vanilla and chocolate together and the creamy butter cream. For those of us who have a hard time deciding between vanilla and chocolate, this cupcake is for you! Enjoy!