Wednesday, April 11, 2012

My Big Boy's Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes




Yesterday was my son's birthday. I am now the proud mother of an eight year old, sigh. Where has the time gone, it seems like just yesterday he was small enough to fit in my arms. I am truly blessed to be his Mommy. Being that his birthday is during the week, he wanted to share his day with his classmates. So at his request, I made him chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing.

We are big chocolate lovers here, so I wanted to make sure to find a good chocolate cake recipe. And boy did I; you can never go wrong with Martha Stewart. This was the most moist and delicious cupcake ever, and topping them off with chocolate swiss meringue buttercream just sent them over the top. The kids in his class really enjoyed them.

Chocolate Cupcakes
fromMartha Stewart's Cupcakes
makes 36 cupcakes

For cupcakes:

3/4 c cocoa powder
3/4 c hot water with a tsp of decaf instant coffee ( I always add a little coffee to chocolate)
3 c All Purpose Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 1/2 c (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 c sugar
4 eggs-large and always room temp
4 tsp vanilla extract
1 c room temperature sour cream

For Icing:
fromMartha Stewart

5 large egg whites
1 c plus 2 tbsp of white sugar
pinch of salt
1 pound of butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 ounces of melted semi- sweet chocolate


Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a 2 cup measuring cup combine hot water with coffee and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and butter over medium heat. Stir occasionally until butter is melted. Remove from heat and add to mixing bowl with paddle attachment. Mix on medium 4-5 minutes or until cool.

Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add vanilla and coca mixture.  Then with the mixer on low add dry ingredients in two batches add flour then sour cream. Mix just until combined.

Fill liner 2/3 full and bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating halfway through. Check for doneness with a toothpick, when it comes out clean, cupcakes are done. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in pan then move to wire rack to finish cooling. While cupcakes are cooling prepare icing.



For Icing:

In a heatproof bowl add egg white and sugar. Then place bowl over a simmering pot of water, and whisk constantly until mixture is warm to the touch and feels smooth between your fingers. Transfer to mixing bowl, and with the whisk attachment beat, starting on low and increasing gradually to medium high, beat until stiff peaks form. Continue mixing until fluffy and glossy, and bowl is cool to the touch. This should take about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium- low add butter a few tablespoons at a time, and mix until incorporated. Once all the butter has been added whisk in vanilla. At this point if you want chocolate buttercream add in the melted chocolate. If not, skip to the next step.

Switching to the paddle attachment, continue beating on low speed to remove any air bubbles (about 2 more minutes). Scrape down the bowl and continue beating until completely smooth. Then using your favorite decorating tip, pipe icing on cooled cupcake (make sure cupcakes are cooled, we don't want any Cupcake Wars incidents).



These were definitely the best chocolate cupcakes, just another reason to love Martha. She knows what she's doing. Hopefully you will use this recipe for the next celebration you have. Be blessed and enjoy.



2 comments:

  1. Happy birthday to you son!
    What wonderful cupcakes you made for him!
    You are blessed having him as your son, and he is definitely blessed having you as his mother!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much. He is a special boy, so I guess we are both blessed.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...