Chocolate Cupcake

I made these for my god-daughter’s birthday celebrations at her kindergarten. Still inspired by the beautiful images in Crabapple Bakery, I adapted the chocolate cupcake recipe and topped it with their vanilla buttercream frosting.

Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 24-30 cupcakes

1 cup or 2 sticks butter
2 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs vanilla
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp instant coffee
1 cup cocoa
1 cup hot water
1 cup cold water

Preheat the oven at 350F. Cream the butter until pale before adding in the sugar and beating until fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined then the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. In another bowl, whisk together the coffee, cocoa and hot water until a smooth paste. Stir in the cold water until combined. Into the creamed mixture, add the sifted mixture in three additions, alternating with the cocoa mixture in two additions. The end mixture will be runny. Scoop into cupcake liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops of the cupcakes spring back when touched.

Verdict: The cakes are moist and not overly sweet, perfect for pairing with a buttercream frosting. I’ve frosted these with marshmallow crème and they were a hit as well.

Corn Muffin

I've had dinner at Kenny Rogers Roasters twice in the last week. I love their corn muffins and its the first thing I wolf down before eating anything else. I've managed to limit myself to one per meal but I wanted to make it at home just to see if I could replicate it.

I was surprised to find so many recipes for it online and I adapted the one from here.


Corn Muffins
makes 12-15 muffins

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mills fine grind)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen corn

Preheat the oven at 400F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt. Sift in the flour and baking powder, then blend in the cornmeal. Add in the milk and mix well. Finally, fold in the corn by hand and scoop into liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffin tops turn brown.

Verdict: Although I prefer the real thing at the restaurant, I guess this is as close to it as it gets. My colleagues commented that they were like the Kenny Rogers muffins even though I didn't let on that it was the same recipe.