Life, in general, is not easy. Life with a toddler, specifically, is not easy. Especially when it comes to matters that concern the safety of said toddler, life is not easy.
Toddlers don’t understand that you don’t run out into the street….everything is a game of catch me. Toddlers don’t consider that a car may come around the corner at any second when they decide to park their bottom in the middle of the road…walking from the car to the house takes a lot out of you and sometimes you just need to rest, geez momma.
Toddlers, much like Honey Badger, don’t care. But as their parents, we do.
So it is that I’ve been on the hunt to repair the fence in our front yard. Thanks to the driving skills of our neighbors, our fence has been hit, banged, knocked, and generally whacked out of service. The posts are so far out of alignment that the gate can’t latch closed, the top rail isn’t connected to anything, and the chain link itself has pulled away from the posts leaving huge gaps.
Exactly the kind of gap that a toddler can use to make a break for it.
With the promise of a thaw from this endless winter, at some point we will want to be out in the front yard. But before that can happen, the breach must be secured. Never, in my wildest imagination, did I expect to pay nearly two month’s worth of mortgage payments for some metal posts, chain link mesh, and a gate. And yet I am about to sign a contract to do just that.
If it gives me one less thing in life with toddler to worry about, I’m all for it. And when you come visit me in the poor house because I’ve gone broke paying for the fence, please bring these cupcakes. They are easier than most moments of life with toddler….and they are pretty freaking delicious.
Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
I’m already planning on making these for Miss Libby’s birthday. They are what my memory says is a perfect birthday cake…moist, tender, and frosted with indulgence. Seriously, my frosting was almost too sweet because for some reason I only used 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate. For more balance, use the full 2 ounces.
BAH Note: According to The Smitten, this makes one dozen cupcakes or one 8 OR 9 inch cake, so plan accordingly. The Smitten also provided both volume and weight measures, so they are below. But if you ask me, it’s so much easier to weigh out your dry ingredients….because hello, precision. But you use what you’re most comfortable with.
Cake
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (145 grams) firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (41 grams) Dutch cocoa powder
- 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Frosting
- 2 ounces (55 grams) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) powdered sugar (sifted if lumpy)
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) butter, at room temperature
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoons cream, milk, or half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350 degrees, place paper liners in a cupcake pan, and lightly grease the top of the pan with a little butter to help get the baked cupcakes out with minimal resistance. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork or whisk to combine and break up any clumps of cocoa powder.
In the workbowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until fully combined and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix. Add the buttermilk and mix until combined. The batter might look curdled at this point, and that’s ok.
Slowly add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until almost just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and give the batter a final mixing by hand to make sure there are no dry streaks of flour hiding at the bottom.
Spoon or scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then flip the cupcakes out onto a rack to cool completely before frosting.
Combine the melted chocolate, salt, and butter in a medium bowl and use a hand mixer to beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until fluffy. Add the milk/cream/half and half to thin the frosting till it’s to your liking and then turn up the speed on your mixer for a minute for maximum frosting fluffiness.
Spoon or spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and try not to gobble them down all at once….easier said than done.
Bon Appetit Hon 