Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Happy Bloggiversary to Me!

Do you want to know what is delicious? These cupcakes.  Unlike a lot of cupcakes, these cupcakes are not light and airy. Instead they have a chew to them, one that could almost be called density, but not in the same way you describe pound cake.  More like a chewy cookie, but the moistness and cakey-ness is not lost.  In baking terms, the crumb is not compromised by the chew, and, oh my, they are good!

Am I waxing poetic about these cupcakes? Only because they deserve it.  I'll give you the recipe at the end of this blog post, but first you have to celebrate my blogiversary with me.

Technically, the one month anniversary of my first blog post was yesterday, but I forgot.  As a result, I would like to pretend that this is a Middle School relationship.  While February 23rd was the first date, this blog and I officially became a couple the next day (you know, like when you exchange hoodies in middle school).

In honor of my first month of blogging, I give to you a list of 7 things that I've learned about blogging since starting.

1. If you plan to take a picture of a recipe, there is a 38% chance that you will screw up the recipe and the food will look weird and taste bad (no matter how many times you've made it before)* Note, your odds may vary depending on how hard core your son is teething at the time.
2. There are a lot of people who blog about blogging. No, seriously, a ton.  Type this into Google "Blogs about Blogs"
3. A fancy header makes you feel legit.  This is a link to the site that taught me how to use Picasa to make a banner.
4. Not only can I crowdsource my dinner, I can crowdsource the whole blog. Here's a link that taught me about formatting in blogger
5. And here's the link that taught me about Archive Pages
6. It turns out social media is important. My one post on Facebook this month yielded 60% of my traffic this month.  Since I'm not going to post this on the Facebook, I know the only people reading are close friends or relatives, so the first person to comment gets a baked good from me (if you are in a different state or country we can work out the details)
7. You are always supposed to have odd numbered lists because humans retain odd numbers better than even.

If anyone is curious about why I started this blog, it is so I can become rich and famous like The Pioneer Woman, but if that fails, at least I will have eaten many delicious meals.

Since this post is already incredibly random, here's a picture of Kenny that I edited in Picasa.

Since I can't add it in my list (it will be an even number, I will also state that blogging is a great opportunity to do the humble brag.  For example, I can say, "Kenny is such a stinker" but I mean everyone admire my child.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

by Hannah Rounds

A chewy chocolate cupcake topped with decadent buttercream frosting. The perfect celebratory dessert for my one month of blogging anniversary

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 18 Cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 1.5 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1.5 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 1.5 Sticks Butter Melted
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1 Package Instant Pudding
• 2/3 Cup Granulated Sugar

For the Frosting:

• 2 Sticks Butter Room Temperature
• 4 Cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder
• 3 Tablespoons Half and Half
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Bar KIt Kat Candy chopped

Instructions:

1. Mix flour, baking powder, instant pudding and salt thoroughly in a a medium mixing bowl. 2. Beat eggs and sugar together in a large mixing bowl for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is fluffy. 3. Add 1/2 the flour/pudding mixture and mix for about 30 seconds to one minute 4. Add all the milk and vanilla and mix for another 30 seconds 5. Add the rest of the flour/pudding mixture and mix until combined. You don't want to overbeat the mixture to ensure that the cake maintains some element of lightness. 6. Pour mixture (approximately 1/4 cup) into cupcake liners and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Use a toothpick to test doneness (cupcakes are done when the toothpick comes out clean)
For the frosting:
1. Mix cold butter with about 1/2 of powder sugar and chocolate. 2. As mixture becomes smooth add more powdered sugar. 3. Taste mixture to be sure you have approximately the right amount of sweetness then add vanilla and half and half. 4. Add more powdered sugar or more half and half until you reach the desired consistency. 5. Only frost cooled cupcakes. 6. Top frosted cupcakes with chopped candy of your choice.