At 12:36pm tomorrow, I will have completed my first year as a high school biology teacher.  This is crazy to me.  I started this blog the night before my first day of school in September, because what first year teacher doesn’t want to add additional commitments to an already overwhelming amount of work?  Every week, no matter how much lesson planning I felt I needed to do, I found time to bake something and write about it.

Looking back, this routine probably helped me out a lot this year.  For some reason, I seem to do better when I have a lot on my plate at once.  So a big thank you to my followers for giving me someone to bake for every week.  And look forward to some big projects, and big changes (good, I hope), this summer!

Anyways, since I am leaving New Jersey for the summer tomorrow, I didn’t really want to buy a bunch of ingredients this weekend.  So instead, I’m giving you the recipe for the chocolate cupcakes I promised here, that you got a preview of in this picture:

You’ll notice I also did vanilla on chocolate and chocolate on vanilla.  Gotta try to please as many people as possible.

Also important to note: I halved this recipe as well, making 12 cupcakes instead of 24.  Double it if you want more.

First, melt the chocolate in the microwave, 15 seconds at a time at 50% power, stirring after each interval.  Magnolia’s insisted on using a double boiler, but that is not something I’ve felt necessary to have in my apartment.  Let the chocolate cool for 5-10 minutes until lukewarm before using.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.

In a large bowl, cream the butter using a hand mixer at medium speed.

Add the sugar and light brown sugar (I still love the little sandcastles), and beat on medium speed until fluffy, which should take around 3 minutes.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Add the chocolate and mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla.  Beat until just mixed after each addition, being careful not to overbeat.  Combining the vanilla and buttermilk in your measuring cup before starting will make this easier.

Spoon the batter evenly into 12 lined cupcake tins.  Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool 15 minutes in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, you can prepare the buttercream.  This frosting can also be stored at room temperature for about 3 days before using.  It held up significantly better than the vanilla buttercream, but I think that’s because I didn’t add enough sugar to the vanilla.

Again, melt the chocolate using the microwave technique and allow to cool until lukewarm.

In a large bowl, beat the butter for 3 minutes until creamy using a hand mixer at medium speed.

Add the milk and beat until smooth.

Add the chocolate and beat for about 2 more minutes.

Add the vanilla and beat for 3 minutes.  There’s a lot of adding one ingredient and beating for what feels like too long in this.

Finally, add the sugar gradually while beating at low speed until you get the consistency you’re looking for.

I stored it at room temperature in Tupperware for a day or two, but you can use it right away if the cupcakes are being served same day.

Decorate your cupcakes as desired.  Mix it up and do some vanilla with chocolate frosting as well.  Reviews from the teachers that tried these said they preferred the contrasting ones, but I think that’s because they may not be quite as devoted to chocolate as I am.

For once, I already know what I’m posting next weekend, and you’re not going to want to miss it, I promise.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 15 second intervals at 50% power, stirring after each interval.  Allow to cool 5-10 minutes to lukewarm.
2. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a small bowl.
3. Beat butter until smooth in a large bowl using a hand mixer on medium speed.
4. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat 3 minutes until fluffy.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
6. Add the chocolate and beat until well-combined.
7. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the vanilla and buttermilk, beating until just combined after each addition.
8. Spoon batter evenly into 12 lined cupcake tins and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool 15 minutes in tin before transferring to wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 4 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled to lukewarm
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/8 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate in microwave in 15 second intervals at 50% power, stirring after each interval.  Allow to cool 5-10 minutes to lukewarm.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter for 3 minutes until creamy using a hand mixer at medium speed.
3. Add milk and beat until smooth.
4. Add melted chocolate and beat 2 minutes.
5. Add the vanilla extract and beat 3 minutes.
6. Add sugar gradually and beat on low speed until desired consistency.
7. Decorate your cupcakes!