Recipe Sunday: Chocolate Cupcakes

Finding the perfect cupcake recipe can be tricky. When I first started really getting into scratch baking, I soon realized that many of the cupcake recipes I attempted did not turn out as light, round, and “poofy” as the old box cakes. At one point, I even baked a batch that completely caved in on itself.

That was the last straw. It was time to take matters into my own hands. Utilizing the knowledge I was amassing in pastry school, particularly regarding how ingredients worked and what purpose each served (I always loved Chemistry, even as a kid), I decided to go out on a limb, and write my own chocolate cupcake recipe.

I will admit, it was not an immediate success. The first batch, although it did not cave in on itself entirely, did not “poof” – the cupcakes remained virtually flat, and some even sagged a little bit in the middle. I tweaked, and tried again. The second batch was better – no sagging at all, but still no real “poofing” either. I threw the recipe in the trash and went to bed. I gave up.

I really wish I could say that it came to me in a dream, because that would make for a really cool story, and they’d be like, magical cupcakes, however it didn’t. I woke up the next morning, and I was laying in bed quietly, savoring it up until the last possible second, when it hit me – I knew what I had to do to fix the cupcakes. I ran downstairs, and dug the recipe out of the trash (THAT was fun). I made my notes before I forgot, and when I got home from work that night, I tried the recipe, one more time.

Success. I’ve been using it ever since. And now you can too!

Dreamy Chocolate Cupcakes

What you’ll need:

1 3/4 Cups Sugar

2 Cups AP Flour

3/4 Cups Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Salt

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1/2 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

2 tsp Vanilla

What you’ll do:

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add the eggs, then the milk. Add the oil and vanilla. Pour into cupcake cups (fill 1/2 to 3/4 – depending on how big you want them). Bake for 15-18 minutes. Yields 20-24 moist and chocolatey cupcakes.

Ice them however you like:

With chocolate icing…

I triple chocolate dare you.

With cinnamon vanilla buttercream…

a little bit of cinnamon in my life.

Or, serve them completely naked.

i was talking about the cupcakes, obviously.