Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes

May 26, 2008, 2:07 pm
Filed Under random babbling | |

I did some baking today. Well, first, I did tons of yardwork, both today & yesterday, so I decided to treat myself to a little relaxation by baking. And, since my dear friend, Sarah of Bellissima Cakes sent me a wonderful goodie package of cake stuff, I had to try it out. Here’s how they turned out:

Now, let me mention that these are not completely from scratch. But I did doctor up a box of cake mix and made the frosting by myself! So here’s the recipe, adapted from “Chocolate from the Cake mix Doctor” by Anne Byrn.

Chocolate Midnight Cupcakes

1 package devil’s food cake mix from a box

1 cup water

1 cup mayonnaise (I used light mayo)

1-4oz package of egg substitute (you could use 2 eggs instead)

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350ºF. Line 2 cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Place cake mix, water, mayo, eggs and vanilla in mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer for 2 minute. Scrap down sides as necessary & beat on medium for 2 minutes. Scoop large dollops into 24 cupcake liners. You should use most of the mix, if not all. Bake cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, until they spring back when touched or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. Frost (see recipe below).

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

1 stick butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3-4 tablespoons milk

Mix butter, vanilla and 1 cup sugar in mixing bowl and blend until incorporated. Add the remaining sugar alternately with 3 tablespoons of milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, blending on low speed. Increase mixer to medium and beat until light & fluffy. Use this to frost cupcakes.

I also wanted to mention that I used Sarah’s amazing homemade pure vanilla. It is incredible - she needs to package this stuff up and sell it. It’s 100% Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. I never realized the difference a good vanilla could make, especially in a vanilla buttercream frosting! And, for my cupcakes, I used a cake decorating baggie thing (I’m no baker, that’s for sure - can’t you tell? I don’t even know the names of the tools I used. Pastry bag - that’s what it is, right?) Anyway, I did some fancy decorating, because I was playing around with all the cool stuff that Sarah sent me, but you could easily just frost the cupcakes with a knife. I also dyed some of the frosting purple to add accents - I used Wilton cake coloring pastes for that. They are super cool & so concentrated, you only need a tiny bit to color the frosting!

I can’t wait to try more stuff. Ty’s birthday is coming up & I think I might try to make & decorate a cake just for him! Wish me luck!