While the title is usually thought of as an infamous piece of Led Zeppelin's work, today's topic is not music. It's cupcakes! I have been out of town and away from the land of internet for quite some time now... I live in a house where you pay for internet, but still don't get it. So now that I am visiting my hometown, I took the great opportunity to catch up on some much-needed blog time. Coincidentally, it was also my neighbor's birthday, so I had the perfect excuse to tear apart the kitchen in a baking frenzy.
As most people already know, I'm a chocoholic, so it is only natural that I baked chocolate cupcakes. I used the following very straight forward recipe. You'll notice it has brown sugar, which isn't the most common. It helps make the cupcakes a bit fluffier I think; that special something a cupcakes deserves.
Chocolate Cloud Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash of salt
- 1/2 cup milk or water
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Either grease a muffin pan or line it with cupcakes liners, your choice!
- Beat together the butter and sugars until fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt gradually.
- Add milk or water if components are not sticking well and need moistening.
- Fill cupcake slots: part of them should be 1/4 full, some 1/2 full, and some 3/4 full. This step is VERY IMPORTANT.
- Bake 18-20 minutes.
- Let cupcakes cool before frosting as your heart desires!
Once your cupcakes are ready to be decorated, layer them by size into rows, smallest in front, then medium, then large in the back. They should resemble little stairs, hence the name of this creation, "Stairway to Heaven."
You will then need to add more frosting to each layer, smoothing it across all of the cupcakes to make a 'banner' to write your message. It should look like this when you are done:
 |
Gabby was thrilled about her cupcakes. She sent me this picture once they were partially devoured, revealing the little note I left her:
Remember, it's the simple things!
