{"id":1248,"date":"2021-04-10T11:07:16","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T18:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/?p=1248"},"modified":"2021-09-11T16:00:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-11T23:00:26","slug":"easy-chocolate-cupcakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/2021\/04\/10\/easy-chocolate-cupcakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Chocolate Cupcakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"804\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220724-1024x804.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220724-1024x804.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220724-300x236.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220724-768x603.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220724-1536x1206.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220724.jpg 1782w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve mentioned before that I&#8217;m not big into baking. I don&#8217;t own a mixer&#8230; or even cake pans. But I do have a muffin tin. I love this recipe because it preps like a muffin. Last year I tried making it vegan with flax seed to replace the eggs and it came out great. Happy Birthday! Or Thursday. They&#8217;re that easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adapted from Cook&#8217;s Illustrated #104 (May\/June 2010)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (OR, use 2 oz unsweetened chocolate plus&nbsp;1\/2 cup granulated sugar)<\/li><li>1\/3 cup cocoa powder<\/li><li>3\/4 cup all-purpose flour<\/li><li>3\/4 cup granulated sugar<\/li><li>1\/2 tsp salt<\/li><li>1\/2 tsp baking soda&nbsp;<\/li><li>6 Tbsp coconut oil, melted<\/li><li>2 eggs (or 2 Tbsp ground flax seed)<\/li><li>2 tsp white vinegar (to activate baking soda, do not omit)<\/li><li>1 tsp vanilla extract<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Place chocolate (or chocolate and&nbsp;sugar)&nbsp;and cocoa in a heatproof medium bowl and pour in&nbsp;3\/4 cup boiling water. Whisk until melted. Set in refrigerator to cool completely, about 20 minutes. (Or do ahead and let it cool, covered, on the counter.)<br>Prepare 12-muffin pan with cupcake liners or grease with butter or oil. Preheat oven to 350.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"930\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220816-1024x930.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220816-1024x930.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220816-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220816-768x698.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220816.jpg 1486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>The vegan cupcakes don&#8217;t rise as much, but they are delicious!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>(To replace eggs with flax: combine 2 Tbsp ground flax seed with 6 Tbsp very hot water. Let stand 5 mins until thickened. Add to recipe instead of 2 eggs.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.<br>Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla into chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until smooth.<br>Divide evenly among muffin cups. Bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Cool in pan 10 mins, then carefully remove.<br>Cool completely before frosting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"889\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220917-1024x889.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220917-1024x889.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220917-300x261.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220917-768x667.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220917-1536x1334.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/20210403_220917.jpg 1629w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Happy birthday, my spring baby!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Coconut Mousse:<\/strong><br>This is a whipped-cream style topping, that will be best spooned onto the cupcakes just before serving. Once frosted, store cupcakes in the fridge. Open a can of coconut milk. Poke 2 holes down through the solid white &#8220;cream,&#8221; and pour out the liquid into a jar with a tight fitting lid. (Save to add to smoothies!) Scoop out the solid cream into a roomy bowl. Whisk in powdered sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until it&#8217;s as sweet as desired. Whisk in 2 Tbsp of cocoa powder and a little more sugar to make chocolate mousse. A pinch of salt will enhance the flavor.<br><strong>Frosting: <\/strong>For something that&#8217;s closer to buttercream, use 1\/4 cup coconut oil and use a spoon to mash it together with 1\/4 cup coconut solids. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and mix it together gently to avoid too much mess. Then another cup. Pinch of salt. A Tbsp of liquid from the can will loosen it up considerably. Tint with food coloring. For a spring birthday, I tinted shredded sweetened coconut green with a few drops of food coloring, piped frosting from a freezer bag with corner snipped off, pressed coconut onto it, piped a little more in the center, and added a candy egg. Super cute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Simplest frosting option:<\/strong> In the past I&#8217;ve used an 8 oz tub of whipped cream cheese, sweetened with 6 Tbsp powdered sugar or to taste.&nbsp;Wait to frost cupcakes until ready to serve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m not big into baking. I don\u2019t own a mixer\u2026 or even cake pans. But I do have a muffin tin. I love this recipe because it preps like a muffin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[71,59,129,36,82,34],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1512,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions\/1512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}