Instructions
Prepare the Batter
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In another large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, then mix.
Add dry ingredients alternately with milk until smooth.
Divide for the Spots
Scoop out about ⅓ cup of batter into one bowl. Mix in the light cocoa powder with a splash of milk to make a medium-brown batter.
Scoop another ⅓ cup of batter into a second bowl. Mix in the dark cocoa powder with a little milk to make a darker batter.
Leave the rest of the batter plain (vanilla).
Create the Leopard Pattern
Spoon a thin layer of vanilla batter into each cupcake liner.
Add small dots of dark cocoa batter. Surround those dots with rings of medium cocoa batter. Top with more vanilla batter.
Repeat until liners are about 2/3 full, layering to create “spots.”
Bake
Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool completely.
Decorate (Optional)
Frost with whipped cream or buttercream and drizzle with chocolate.
Leave unfrosted if you want the leopard pattern to show clearly when bitten into.
Tips
Use piping bags (or zip-top bags with corners snipped) to place the cocoa batters more precisely for clean leopard spots.
For extra flair, tint your frosting with animal-print colors like gold, brown, or black.
These can also be made as a loaf cake or sheet cake for a show-stopping centerpiece.
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