Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes

Spring break isn’t only anxiously anticipated by kids.  In fact, teachers may be are more anxious than they are in the weeks leading up to it.   I spent this morning running errands with this furry companion…

This afternoon, on my more laidback, at-home [cleaning] day of  spring break, I baked a batch of what I call “Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes” – or what Hershey’s calls “Perfectly Chocolate” cake.

You should know that these are just your basic chocolate cupcake.  They are incredibly moist and satisfying, but in all honesty, they aren’t deeply complex in the chocolate flavor department.  They’re simply delicious, everyday cupcakes that would be perfect for birthday parties or for snacking on at home.  Not particularly ohhhh-la-laaa, but assuredly palate-pleasing.

Not showstoppers or what you’d serve at a fancy dinner party, but they are scrumptious and I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t love them (unless a chocolate allergy is involved, of course).   These could certainly be jazzed up with a richer, dark chocolate frosting and maybe a sprinkling of sea salt (one of those current food fads) or filled with some sort of caramel or cream filling.

If I were to compare these to something, it would be that favorite set of old bedsheets that have been used time and time again, laundered until they’ve reached a feathery softness.  They’re just an old standby that never fails to bring comfort.

No-frills.  Gratifying.

As you can see, the batter is very fluid.  A cup of boiling water is added as the last ingredient to the batter to “bloom” the cocoa powder, or intensify the chocolate flavor.  This recipe makes exactly 24 regular-size cupcakes.

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable  or canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Directions

Line muffin tin with paper liners.  Heat oven to 350*F.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  Beat on medium speed for one minute.

Stir in boiling water (the batter will be thin, don’t worry, this is right).

Fill liners 2/3 full with batter.  (I usually put the batter into a large measuring cup with a pour spout, and then pour the batter into the liners.)

Bake cupcakes for aproximately 18-22 minutes.

Cool completely on wire rack before frosting (see below).

Basic Chocolate Frosting

3 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs. unsalted butter (softened)
2 ounces semisweet chocolate (melted)
2 tsp. vanilla

Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.  Add softened butter, vanilla, milk, and cocoa, and whisk to combine.  Using an electric mixer, slowly add in powedered sugar, and beat until smooth.

*I pipe my frosting onto the cupcakes by filling a plastic sandwich bag (baggie) and snipping off one of the corners.  Instant (cheap) pastry bag!  This helps keep the decorating a bit neater than if it’s spread on with a knife.

Cupcakes: Proof That “Miniatures” Get More Attention

Dogs.  Ponies.  Pigs.  Babies.  Isn’t it true that “miniature” versions of nearly anything are doted over more than their regular-size predecessors?  I mostly observe this idea in animals, but have you ever been in an uneventful room, and then someone with a BABY enters?  You’d think everyone won the lottery.

In general, people just seem to go crazy over tiny versions of things.  I’ve concluded that that is why cupcakes are now all the rage – on television, in bakeries, at weddings in lieu of a wedding cake, etc.  They’re also portable, equally delicious as a big cake, and they provide portion control (if you can limit yourself to one).  So why not?  Portion control is never a bad thing.

On our honeymoon to Savannah, Georgia, we sampled some cupcakes from a bakery called Sweet Carolina Cupcakes.  They were perfection; each cupcake consisted of moist, flavorful cake and a rich, not-too-sweet frosting.  My favorite flavor was what they call a “Sweet Georgia Brown”: brown sugar pound cake with bits of peaches, topped with cream cheese icing.  So many icings are often too cloying for my liking, but their cream cheese icing had a bit of tang that balanced the sweetness.

I decided to bake some simple vanilla cupcakes for tomorrow’s Easter lunch.  Since we’re doing a mid-afternoon meal, I thought they would be a nicely-portioned, light dessert.  The upside to this recipe is that the cake batter and buttercream icing are very quick to whip up; the downside is that this recipe only makes one dozen.  Moist cake with a fresh, homemade frosting.  Mmmm.

The homemade “stuff” blows Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker out of the water.

We clearly aren’t pastry chefs, but I think we did a pretty decent job on the decorating.  My husband actually frosted 7-8 of the 12 cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcakes

(from Brown Eyed Baker)

Vanilla Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
½ cup sour cream
1 large egg , room temperature
2 large egg yolks , room temperature
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin/cupcake tin with paper or foil liners.

2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add butter, sour cream, egg and egg yolks, and vanilla; beat at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and mix by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

3. Divide batter evenly among cups of prepared tin. Bake until cupcake tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from tin and transfer to wire rack; cool cupcakes to room temperature before frosting.

4. Using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl once or twice.

5. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and add the vanilla, mixing until incorporated. Whip at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.

You can store any unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container; let it come to room temperature and then give it a quick whip in the mixer before using.