It would take days to exhaust the chocolate cupcake recipes in print and on the web. I started with the few cookbooks I have here in Hamburg (about 30). My baking books and of course “Joy of Cooking”. Unsatisfied with what I had in print, I spent far too long online. It’s like shopping for a dress or a CAR. These chocolate cupcakes were going to be sold in a ‘Taste of the Globe’ sale after all. My daughter’s reputation first, then mine on the line at the tenuous age of 8th grade and borderline mid-life… assuming I live till 88. Oh my god, I’m potentially over the half way mark. This isn’t about me though. Well it is MY blog. Right. Car shopping. You find one you love in the first go round but you are required to continue searching and cross-referencing to confirm your initial gut feeling.

The Joy of Baking came up within the top five on the first page of a google search for ‘chocolate cupcakes’.  The recipe is simple and clean. And so good. I made them yesterday to give them that day of rest. Cupcakes, in my opinion, peak after a 24 hour rest and are delicious for a solid day maybe two, then start to dry out. Of course they rarely last too long unless you keep making 2 doz for 3 people. This batch though was for export… well minus three…. or four.

We delivered our cupcakes to the school for the ‘Taste of the World’ luncheon representing over 30 countries. About 24 tables full of sweet and savory 1 euro portions benefiting the Ghana project. The USA table had sweets and hotdogs. There is more to us than that right?  I wanted to make my way round with a wheelbarrow. Slowly.  Unfortunately, it was to begin during lunch which was not for another hour. So we took ourselves out to lunch and deep in conversation with O, I snapped up. “Dammit”  I could have kicked myself for forgetting to take pictures of the plates of  cupcakes with chocolate buttercream… dotted with white chocolate buttercream. Not to mention the entire display of goodies. That is the one downside of having a blog. It is SO disappointing when you think about what fantastic pictures you would have had. Probably the best ever, that would have been life changing for ALL my readers. But then I consoled myself thinking about telling you how sad it is when I forget to take pictures. And that brings me to the present and the fact that I had to make more cupcakes for ‘in house’ consumption and of course more photos. And so I did.

Print Recipe NOW!

The recipe says 16 cupcakes but I strongly beg to differ. Call it a proper dozen. And not enough for snacking on uncooked batter. Stick to licking utensils. No not really. That’s gross. Use your finger. For the frosting, I used dark chocolate and half the powdered sugar because I had no success finding unsweetened chocolate here. Here’s a little glimpse of the ingredients and instructions are on the print out.

From the Joy of Baking:

Chocolate Cupcakes:

1/2 cup (50 grams) Dutchprocessed cocoa powder

1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water

1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

4 ounces (120 grams)

unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/3 cups (160 grams)

confectioners (powdered or icing)

Heading into the oven- about 3/4 full…

Results in a nice rounded top…tested for doneness. Don’t over cook or they will dry out.

Now for some fun…
Pictures…

Enter bunny…

And blown out, hand painted eggs we did two years ago…that I’ve managed not to break. A miracle.

Having some fun with the clarity option…I’m thinking if the blog doesn’t work out I can get a job at the Sears family portrait studio.

These go great with a little coffee…noticed how much I like these little juice cups?

 And one more for the road…

Happy Spring…