Simple Chocolate Cupcakes

My very first attempt to make cupcakes was on Mark's birthday last January, and I wasn't quite pleased with the outcome. I never baked, so I thought it would be a nice surprise to make an effort to bake for his special day. The recipe I was following was quite basic, but due to lack of baking knowledge and skills, I failed. My 6-year old niece (who's well-known to have a big appetite on just about everything) didn't even finish one piece. My cupcakes tasted and looked more like a kababayan, a Filipino pastry that can be found in almost every local bakery in the Philippines. Worse, kababayan tastes better and softer than what my "trying hard" cupcakes.

After researching and reading more about baking, and getting a little help from my baker friend, Noriann, I dared to conquer my cupcake dreams once more - and I nailed it this time!

 I got this simple chocolate cupcake recipe from www.joyofbaking.com. I found it nice, straight forward and simple, specially for a beginner like me.

I didn't want to end up with a bunch of cupcakes that I and Mark won't finish, so I halved the ingredients which made it perfect for two hungry stomachs.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling hot water
90g all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 190C.

1. In a small bowl, put the boiling water and cocoa powder together and stir until completely dissolved. Let it cool down.
2. In another bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder and whisk them together. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk the butter and the egg together.
4. Stir in the sugar. Using a rubber spatula, mix them well until smooth. Add the vanilla extract.
Note: It is very important to not over mix the cupcake batter so do not over blend.
5. Pour the flour mixture gradually. Continue mixing with your rubber spatula.
6. When it's completely integrated, pour the cocoa mix.
7. Set your electric mixer in low speed and mix everything together for about 20 seconds. Do not over mix.

When you are done with the batter, you can now pour it in cupcake sheets and put it in your cupcake pan. You can sprinkle chocolate chips once the cupcake batter is in place. Bake for about 15-20mins. Use a toothpick to check if the inside is still moist or cooked.

Serve it with a dash of confectioner's sugar.

Soft, moist, and tasty. Just the way I like it.