I decided to bake some Halloween cupcakes, then thought mini ones are always more fun! They turned out delicious!
Here's the recipe:
Chocolate Cupcakes:
1/2 cup (50 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water
1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 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) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.
Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. You can either spread the frosting on the cupcakes with a small spatula or if piping, use a large Wilton 1M open star tip to make lovely swirls.
Chocolate Frosting: Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy (about 2 -3 minutes).
Makes about 16 cupcakes
I'm so pleased to announce that the seeds I planted are growing nicely. Here are:
Carrots...I planted lots because I love them!!
Here is my oh so helpful daughter
And her very cute (yet still little) toes!
Here's the interior fabric:
Well, just 5 short days until I run my first half-marathon. It's been fun (and a lot of work) training for it, but totally worth it. I feel better physically than I have in a long time!
I think it will be fun and neat to experience it. I hope I do well, but we'll see how the day goes. My original goal was to finish it in under 2 hours, so we'll see how close I come!
And yes, I do get comments on her gorgeous eyelashes all the time! Thanks Mom!
The cutest baby ever!!
I wonder how long I can get this strip??
Mmmm...the smell of freshly baked bread. Nothing better, except maybe freshly made ice cream.
My mom inspired me to bake some bread, and it's almost done right now and it sure smells delicious!
Yesterday I prepared the custard base to make some delicious vanilla ice cream (with real vanilla beans!) I'm excited to make it this afternoon and let Maya watch. She really loves when I make things in the Kitchenaid mixer. Quite fascinating I suppose.
