My son volunteered that he will take chocolate cupcakes for his teacher's birthday tomorrow... baked by his mum the night before while he was soundly asleep. Every mum needs a go-to recipe for these surprise bake days, so here's a great recipe, with not too much sugar in the cupcake, perfect for a bunch of active 8 year olds. It's easy enough to make on a weeknight after the kids go to bed, and it has been a great hit as birthday party treats so far.
Ingredients for cupcakes:
- 188g cake flour
- 160g sugar
- 65g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 180g buttermilk
- 188g warm water
- 54.5g vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for Icing:
- 225g softened butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 360g powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons cream (decrease this if you want a stiffer icing)
- Gel food colouring. You can use different colours if you have a twin piping bag.
Method:
- Preheat oven to 175 deg C.
- Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners. The recipe makes 24 cupcakes, so you may need to use two trays or bake in two batches.
- Beat the eggs to get some air into them. Whisk in the buttermilk, warm water, oil and vanilla extract.
- Add all the dry ingredients to this mix, and whisk until smooth, making sure that everything is well mixed in.
- Fill each cupcake 2/3 full and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Test by sticking in a toothpick and checking if it comes out clean.
- Remove from the tray and allow to cool completely.
- For the icing, beat butter until fluffy.
- Add vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time beating in between.
- If you are using two colours, separate icing into two batches and add food colouring.
- Transfer into a piping bag and pipe onto completely cooled cupcakes.
These cupcakes are perfect for a kid's party, but they're even better with an espresso as a late night snack for a tired mum.