Cupcakes

This is the recipe I used for the chocolate cupcakes, which were, shall we say, wolfed down, even if I did, ahem, forget to put in the boiling water.

It's from Caprial’s Desserts by Caprial Pence and Melissa Carey.

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ¼ cups lightly packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 heaping TBSP cocoa powder
3 eggs
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour (To make two cups of cake flour, combine 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch)
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
¾ cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease cupcake pans and set aside.
2. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often , until well blended, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the cocoa powder. Mix until combined.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, on at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing well after each addition.
5. Continue to beat for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer, add the melted chocolate, and mix well.
6. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add about ½ the ingredients followed by about ½ of the sour cream and beat well. Add the remaining dry ingredients followed by the remaining sour cream, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition.
7. Add the boiling water and beat until smooth.
8. Scoop (ice cream scoop works best) batter into prepared pans.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cake springs back when touched lightly in the center.
10. Let cool for about 10 minutes and remove from pan. Let cupcakes cool completely.