Chocolate Cupcakes

Last night was the sometimes-monthly-girl's-night and I got to bring dessert (yay!).  Of course I had to make something chocolaty, although the hubs said no matter what I made it would also be discriminatory.  He says that we're discriminating by not inviting the boys to these gatherings, especially since they always invite the girls (even to poker night!).  To retaliate, the boys ate out and went bowling while the girls had dinner in and drank wine.

Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand: chocolate.  I decided to make cupcakes (the hubs keeps saying I need to branch out from cookies, so I am trying to master the art of cupcakes) and use a new recipe since my usual one, while very yummy, results in a somewhat crumbly texture that can get a tad messy.

I picked a new recipe for the cupcakes but decided to stick with my usual buttercream frosting.  The cupcakes came out so moist and had great flavor.  They also came out less crumbly than the other recipe.  Someone commented last night was that it was one of their favorites of the desserts that I've made.  Given that I rarely bring home leftovers of my baked goods, that tells me it's a keeper!

Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer.  Add the boiling water last, and mix it in well.  The batter will be really thin - that's okay!

Place cupcake papers into mini-muffin pan and almost fill the papers with batter.  I put my batter into a really big measuring cup that has a spout so I could pour the batter in and it worked out quite nicely.

Bake for 10 minutes.  They are done baking when a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack.

Those indentations on the top are from flipping them onto the cooling rack.  But the frosting is going to cover them, so it's no big deal.

Makes about a million mini-cupcakes.  Okay, you caught me, it doesn't make a million.  But it makes about 70, which is still a lot!


Buttercream Frosting


1 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla extract


In a large bowl, cream together the butter and vanilla. Blend the sugar in one cup at a time.  You may need to stop and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times to make sure it all gets thoroughly incorporated.  Beat in the milk and continue mixing until light and fluffy.  Make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before frosting.

The final result:

Both of these recipes are very closely based on some that I found online:
Cupcakes
Frosting