Chocolate velvet cupcakes

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• We have a new legal clerk starting Monday so I decided to make some cupcakes to celebrate. I like red velvet but I hate using a whole bottle of food coloring so these are red velvet without the red.
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• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk

 

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
3. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

Frosting

Use mixer to combine one cup of confectioners sugar and one stick of room temperature butter. Add two teaspoons of red wine and one teaspoon of vanilla. Mix well and add half cup of confectioners sugar. 

Chocolate mint cupcakes

I just made French toast cupcakes yesterday but to more is jimmys birthday sooooo I needed to bake more cupcakes, new cupcakes... Some,thing different. A look through my cabinets and a little cupcake wars inspiration and I decided on tiramisu which I don't have all the ingredients so, oddly I decided on an Andes mint inspired cupcake. Random story, I know. 

Chocolate mint cupcake 

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Directions:

Add all dry ingredients into mixer and combine well. In a separate bowl combine all wet ingredients except for the water, mix well. Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat for three minutes. Add boiling water and combine. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and teaspoon of sugar, mix. Pour into a prepared cupcake tin with liners. Bake at 350 for 23 minutes. Cool and then frost.

Frosting

One stick of room temperature butter, 

One to two cups of powdered sugar

One teaspoon vanilla extract

One teaspoon peppermint extract

2 tablespoons water