Hello Spring! Hello Cupcake!

 

  

When I made these chocolate cupcakes a month and a half ago, the green icing was festive for St. Patrick's Day.  But since I didn't get around to writing about them until now, I suppose I should put some sort of spin on the choice of icing colour and say it's for Spring, which is hopefully going to arrive and stay any time now.  If it snows one more time this year, I'm getting on a plane and going back to Australia.  Even though it's approaching winter there, it will still be nicer than here.  On the upside, chocolate cupcakes never go out of season especially if they're made using Magnolia Bakery's recipe.  I made the icing by adding a bit of green food colouring and Baileys to vanilla buttercream.  You could substitute the Baileys with another flavour, but I don't think Baileys should be season specific either...

Magnolia Chocolate Cupcakes, (From the book More from Magnolia by Allysa Torey)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (see Note)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream

Note: To melt the chocolate, place in a double boiler over simmering water on low heat for approximately 5–10 minutes. Stir occasionally until completely smooth and no pieces of chocolate remain. Remove from the heat and let cool to lukewarm 5–10 minutes.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chocolate, mixing until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated, but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
5. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing. At the bakery we ice the cupcakes with either Vanilla Buttercream or Chocolate Buttercream.