Cupcake Wars, the first salvo

I've told you how my daughter loves to watch cooking shows, right?

The current favorite has to do with cupcakes. When I watch the show, I think "No one in their right mind could call that a cupcake, let alone eat it!" 

But wait until you get a look at what Carrie gleaned from watching those shows!

I'm calling this week's post "the first salvo" because we're talking chocolate. Delicious chocolate. Next week will be vanilla - and you don't dare miss that post!

Both cupcakes have the same basic feel to them. A delicious cake with an awesome frosting.

Wait a minute - did I hear someone say they always use a cake mix? If you've never made cake from scratch, this is the time to try it. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Basic Chocolate Cupcakes

Yes, Carrie cooks with a candle burning for ambiance :)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups cake flour - Wondra, Soft as Silk or Swan's Down are some brand names.

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

3/4 cup coffee

3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk

1/3 cup melted butter

Start out by whisking the dry ingredients together. Our mixer has whisk attachments, and Kitchen Aid mixers do, too. If your mixer doesn't, you can whisk them by hand.

In another bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients: vanilla, eggs, coffee, milk and butter.

* cooking note: if you don't have buttermilk or sour milk on hand, stir 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice in 3/4 cup milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. There you go - sour milk!

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until you have a smooth batter.

Pour into lined muffin tins and bake at 350° for about 20 minutes.

Now comes the crowning glory for these cupcakes - the frosting.

A few weeks ago, Ruthy shared her buttercream/satin icing recipe here. I think this frosting recipe might top that one. You'll have to be the judge!

Whipped Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

Carrie found this recipe on one of her favorite blogs - http://www.ihearteating.com/

Ingredients:

7 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
a pinch of salt

In a small saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk and heat, stirring constantly until it thickens to the consistency of a thin pancake batter.

Remove from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature. Stir it occasionally as it cools. Once it's cool, stir in the vanilla.

Cream the butter, sugar and salt together until creamy, about 3 minutes on medium high speed.

Now add the cooled milk/flour mixture.

Beat the frosting on medium to medium high speed for about 5 minutes, until the frosting has the consistency of whipped cream. A whisk attachment on your mixer is perfect for this task.

Now, this next step is quite dangerous. Taste the frosting - just a taste! You'll be tempted to finish off the entire batch, but don't!

When you taste it - just a little bit, remember! - if you can still feel sugar granules, keep beating until you can't.


Now it's time to frost the cupcakes. Carrie likes to use her piping bag with an open star decorating tip, but you can also use a plastic bag with the corner snipped off.

After you frost the cupcakes, decorate the top with some bits of shaved dark chocolate.

These are the best chocolate cupcakes I've ever had, and the frosting is melt-in-your-mouth fabulous.

Next week we'll have the next salvo in the cupcake wars - vanilla with cherry/almond frosting. Don't miss it!