Chocolate Beehive Cupcakes
Fluffy yet fudgy chocolate cupcakes topped with the most adorable beehive piping! Whether it’s for a “Mommy to Bee” or a Winnie the Pooh party, these simple yet stunning (and delicious!) cupcakes are perfect for so many baby shower and birthday themes!
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These cupcakes were a “let’s see what happens and hope they turn out” kind of thing. For a baby shower. Which is terrifying. Because when you make a few dozen mini cupcakes and just hope they look cute and on-theme, it doesn’t always work out.
But these did. They were everything I could hope for and SO delicious.
They were for a Vintage Winnie the Pooh themed baby shower, with pale sage and pale yellow as the focal colors. It turned out SO well, which is entirely attributed to the mama-to-be’s sister. Everything was beautiful and vintage and the colors were so soft and elegant.
I was so honored to be able to add something tiny to this shower (for my husband’s cousin) and SO happy that the colors and theme flowed well.
Oh, and that things tasted delicious.
Why this recipe works
First, the chocolate cupcakes. They’re just SO good. Fluffy yet moist, rich but not overly so, and the perfect amount of sweet. It’s my absolute favorite chocolate cake recipe and one my most requested things I make. I also just love the taste of chocolate cake with a simple, creamy vanilla buttercream. They complement each other perfectly.
As for the decoration, the beehives are not only adorable but also easy to pipe. You just make circles and pile them high! If you’re struggling to get the color correct or to get the beehives to look right, I have listed some troubleshooting tips below. That’s all there really is to it with these cupcakes!
Key ingredients
Flour. Be sure to spoon then level your flour so you don’t pack it in, and always sift with a fine mesh sieve!
Cocoa powder. Sifting this is a must, as it tends to clump. Be sure you use unsweetened cocoa. Regular is preferred, but Dutched will work as well.
Sugar. Obviously! You’ll need this in the cake as well as the caramel sauce.
Baking powder/soda. Both are needed to help the cake rise properly. Be sure they haven’t been open longer than a few months or they do start to lose their umph, regardless of the indicated expiration date. And be sure they’ve been well-sealed! Any moisture getting in will stop them from working properly.
Salt. Again, needed in all elements of this cake. I highly recommend sea salt, as it helps complement the sweetness better.
Buttermilk. I always make my own by adding 1 tablespoon white vinegar to a 1 cup measuring cup. I then fill it the rest of the way with room-temperature whole milk.
Oil. I prefer avocado or grape seed oil, as they are light and tasteless but still heart-healthy. Vegetable or canola oil work, too.
Eggs. Use fresh, large eggs and make sure they have reached room temperature.
Vanilla. Always use pure extract in baking, not imitation.
Hot coffee. Be sure your coffee is piping hot when you use it. You can make it as strong or light as you’d like. I prefer blond coffee in most cakes, but you really can’t taste it if you use a dark roast. It just serves to bring out a more intensely dark chocolate flavor.
Vanilla American buttercream. You can use any flavor you want that’s not chocolate. I actually made some of these with mint buttercream (not peppermint—there’s a difference!) because the mama-to-be that I made these for loves chocolate mint. But I personally think they’re great with plain vanilla.
Yellow gel food coloring. I used a combination of Americolor’s Lemon Yellow and Wilton’s Golden Yellow for these. Feel free to play around with what you have to get the color you want, but try to use a gel color if possible, as it won’t water down the frosting.
Candy bees. I chose to just buy already made bee-shaped sugar candies, but you could also use these molds to make your own with chocolate or candy melts.
How to make chocolate beehive cupcakes
1. Make and dye the buttercream ahead of time. It’s ideal to let the buttercream refrigerate at least overnight (I did it 5 days in advance). This helps the yellow color deepen without going overboard on adding dye. Bring it to room temperature when you take out your eggs and buttermilk to warm up for the cupcakes. That should give it enough time to warm up.
Make the cupcakes
2. Sift and whisk dry ingredients. Don’t skip the sifting! It’s key to making this cake nice and fluffy.
3. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Whisk very well to fully emulsify (blend) it all, especially the eggs and oil.
4. Slowly whisk hot coffee into wet ingredients. Whisk very quickly and pour slowly to avoid scrambling the eggs. If you do think you scrambled some, you can run it through your fine mesh sieve.
5. Slowly stir wet ingredients into the dry. Do this on low and immediately stop and scrape the bowl once everything is combined.
6. Beat on medium for exactly 2 minutes. Set a timer so you don’t under or over mix.
7. Bake. Bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out with just some moist crumbs—not fully clean, as this can mean it’s over baked. Remember that it continues to bake a little when you take it out of the oven.
Assemble
8. Frost beehives. Be sure your buttercream is room temperature. Give it a good stir before adding to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (such as Wilton 1A). Use a smaller one (such as Wilton 12A) for mini cupcakes. Starting on the outside, pipe in a swirl until the middle is filled, then begin piping back out for your second layer, finally working your way back in for the third layer.
9. Add a candy bee! This part is optional, and you could use black pearls or add little candy flowers. It’s entirely up to you and the aesthetic you want.
Enjoy
Tips and FAQ’s for this recipe
Can I use a different flavor of cake?
Yes! You can use any cake flavor you like (I suggest chocolate hazelnut or black chocolate with marshmallow frosting). If you don’t care too much about the color of the cake in contrast with the yellow buttercream, some good options are vanilla butter cake, confetti cake, or even lemon cake.
Can I use a different frosting?
Yes! I wrote this recipe for a simple vanilla buttercream, but you could use one of my favorites, marshmallow! However, you’ll need to dye it before adding the marshmallow to avoid it turning gummy. Some other frostings that will dye yellow easily and pair well with chocolate cake are vanilla malt, white chocolate, or peppermint (for a winter shower/party).
How do I get the piping to look like a beehive?
This took some practice, which is why I made extra cupcakes. Those I kept aside for my family, because they only care that it tastes good. I had the best luck starting from the outside then piping a spiral all the way into the middle, then working my way back to the outside for the second (less wide) layer. For the top layer, you just make a small swirl back into the middle. If this is too complicated or not working for you, start from the outside and swirl until the middle is filled and stop. Then, repeat that process on the second layer, only smaller (to create the domed shape). Keep making smaller circles on top of each other until it looks like a beehive.
Why isn’t my frosting the right color?
It may be that you used the wrong color of yellow or that you didn’t use enough (or used too much) or that it didn’t have time to deepen. I used a combination of Americolor’s Lemon Yellow and Wilton’s Golden Yellow and let it rest in the fridge for a few days. I did this out of necessity, since I was making multiple desserts and didn’t want to be overly stressed the day of the shower (when I planned to decorate the cupcakes first thing in the morning then take photos of them then drive an hour to the shower). However, I always recommend making a dyed frosting at least a day in advance. Let it sit in the fridge to deepen the color then let it come to room temperature for a few hours and give it a good stir.
How much dye to use depends on if you’re letting the frosting deepen in the fridge. If you don’t have time for that, then you’ll want to keep adding dye until the color is spot on. However, if you compare the two photos below, you’ll see how deep my color was when it went in the fridge compared to how it looked when I piped it.
Where do I get the bees?
I found mine on Amazon. I’ve seen videos of people making their own little bees out of melted chocolate or candy, but that was way more work than I had time (or skill) to do. Plus, it’s hard to find molds that are as small as I needed them for mini cupcakes. If you are making full-sized cupcakes, these molds would work well with black candy melts (or chocolate).
Do I have to use coffee in the cake?
No! You can make this a chocolate cake by using regular blond roast coffee instead of stronger coffee. You could technically use just hot water, but I have never been a fan of how this cake tastes without coffee. Trust me, you will not taste the coffee if you use light roast. If you’re worried, you can make it half strength, which should be enough to bring out the chocolate flavor.
Measure dry ingredients carefully
Always spoon flour and cocoa into your measuring cup then level with the back of a knife or other straight edge. And be sure to sift with a fine mesh sieve so your cake is nice and fluffy.
Sift your dry ingredients
Usually, you don’t need to sift the dry ingredients unless it’s cake. However, I realized that every time I tried making brownies, my cocoa left little clumps that in turn caused me to over mix my batter. Instead, sifting the dry ingredients means you can simply fold them into the wet ingredients without over mixing, resulting in a tender, fudgy brownie that’s not dense.
Use room temperature ingredients
This is another baking must. Room temperature ingredients (when called for) are non-negotiable. I have seen the difference in cakes that are tough and don’t rise. Plan ahead and make sure your ingredients have had time to sit out.
Use quality cocoa
Since cocoa is the main flavor here, you want a good brand. Opt for something organic and fair trade, if possible, because this usually means it was produced in smaller batches and thus higher quality and is often fresher, too. Plus, the flavor of the high quality cocoa is always noticeable in the brownies. My go-to is Volupta, from Costco, but some other good options are Ghirardelli, Guittard, Scharffen Berger, Anthony’s, or even Hershey’s Special Dark in a pinch.
Refrigerate frosting overnight if possible
When you refrigerate buttercream, it helps smooth it out quite a bit. Since whipping it to get it white and fluffy adds air (that we ideally stir out, but it’s not always easy), refrigeration helps smooth this out. Plus, it helps the color deepen. It’s one easy way to avoid adding a TON of dye to the frosting.
My tools
Here are my must-have tools I use for making these cupcakes. Affiliate links provided.
Cupcake pans (or mini cupcake pans)
Mesh sieve (because sifting is KEY for a fluffy cake)
Round piping tips (has large and small for regular or mini cupcakes)
Chocolate Beehive Cupcakes
- prep time: 30-35 minutes
- bake time: 15-18 minutes
- total time: about 55 minutes (plus about 30 minutes for cupcakes to cool)
servings: 24 cupcakes (or 48 mini cupcakes)
Ingredients:
- 1 ⅔ cups (335g) granulated sugar
- 1 ⅔ cups (227g) flour, sifted
- ¾ cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3g) sea salt
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (240g) buttermilk, room temperature*
- ½ cup (108g) avocado oil (can sub vegetable or canola oil)
- 1 tablespoon (13g) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240g) hot, light roast coffee (or hot water)
- optional: black cupcake liners (or mini liners)
- one batch vanilla American buttercream
- yellow gel food coloring (I used golden yellow and lemon yellow)
- candy bees
Instructions:
- Ideally, make the buttercream at least a day in advance. Color with yellow gel food coloring until the ideal color (or very slightly lighter). Cover well and refrigerate at least overnight. Let come to room temperature on the counter and stir well. This will help to deepen the color, avoiding any surprise changes, and also smooths the frosting a bit.
- Preheat your oven to 325F/165C. Line two regular cupcake pans (or mini cupcake pans) with cupcake liners (or spray with baking spray or even grease with butter and lightly sprinkle with flour—use what you have!). This is also a great time to set your coffee to percolate (unless using hot water or espresso and hot water, which is what I do).
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, sifting everything but the sugar (unless yours is fine enough to sift--go for it!). Set aside.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla together until well-blended and fully emulsified, about 1 minute.
- Very, very slowly stream the hot coffee or water into the wet ingredients, whisking vigorously and constantly as you pour to avoid scrambling the eggs. Feel free to do this in segments if it’s easier. If you do scramble some of the eggs, you can run the mixture through your fine mesh sieve to remove the cooked egg bits.
- Using the paddle attachment, turn your stand mixer to low (or use a hand mixer) and slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry. This should take about 30 seconds or so. The batter will clump up then thin out. Once you’ve poured all the wet ingredients, immediately turn off the mixer. Scrape down the bottom and sides. Beat on medium for exactly 2 minutes (set a timer).
- Evenly divide batter between 24 cupcake liners (they should be somewhere between ⅔ and ¾ full). I found an ice cream scoop or large cookie scoop helps with this.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes (10-12 for mini cupcakes), until a toothpick inserted in a middle cupcake comes out with just a few moist crumbs (ideally not fully clean, as this could mean they’re over baked). Check early and rotate halfway if not using convection.
- Let cool 5-10 minutes in the cupcake pan then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Stir frosting and place in a piping bag fitted with a large, round piping tip (such as 1A). If making mini cupcakes, fit with a smaller round tip, such as 12A.
- Pipe beehives, starting at the outer edge of the cupcake and working your way in, then for the second layer working your way back out to the edge (but not all the way, to create a dome shape), then back to the inside for the top layer. You can smooth the top layer with an offset spatula if desired.
- Note: If you are struggling to pipe the beehive all in one go, create each layer separately, in this case always starting on the outside and working your way in, until you have created at least 3 layers that resemble a beehive.
- Decorate each cupcake with a sugar bee (and sugar flowers, if desired).
Enjoy! If not serving right away, store in an airtight container until ready to eat. Cupcakes will last for 3-5 days. Avoid refrigeration for more than an hour, as this can cause them to dry out.
*You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon white vinegar with enough room temperature whole milk to equal 1 cup total. Stir and let sit 10 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
