What I did today...

As I mentioned in my last post, I occasionally receive cooking/baking requests from friends or family. Actually, in Eric's case, he brings up the topic of chocolate chip cookies just about every time I see him... and lately, he has leverage in the form of Connor -- Connor is the one who really wants the cookies. (Seriously, how can I feel so guilty about not making cookies for a five-month-old with no teeth?? :))

Today's request was chocolate cupcakes -- I made some last week for my mom's birthday, and she liked them so much that she requested more for dessert tonight. And since I'll use any excuse to bake a dessert which includes either the word "chocolate" or "cake" (but preferably both), I made these cupcakes my afternoon project...

I can't take credit for the cake recipe -- it's actually from an old restaurant in Austin called Green Pastures. I've never been to the restaurant, but they published their chocolate cake recipe in the Austin American-Statesman about fifteen years ago, and it's been my go-to chocolate cake recipe ever since. The recipe makes enough for a two-layer cake, but I only wanted about a dozen cupcakes for tonight's dessert... so I decided to make a third of a recipe. And by the way, trying to figure out a third of a recipe already rife with fractions isn't as simple as you'd think. If these cupcakes end up tasting good, it will be a testament to my awesome math skills. I gotz mad math skillz, yo...

Mmmmm... butter...

After the addition of several mathematically rearranged ingredients: mmmmmmm... chocolate...

Which then magically transforms into: MMMMMMM... CUPCAKES... (Yes, in my head "CUPCAKES" is in all-caps...)

But my favorite part of any cake-baking enterprise is the final step -- the frosting. And this MAY be my favorite part because I don't use any particular recipe, I just mix things around until they start to taste right... which means I have to taste-test the frosting. A lot. It's a requirement. A while ago, I mentioned that I bought some ridiculously expensive vanilla beans at the grocery store -- but I just found vanilla beans for $2.99 at World Market. Score! (I could seriously spend three hours just in the food section of World Market... I love that store so much I want to dress up in a frilly gown and ask it to prom...)

Vanilla beans are cool -- you have to slice them open with a knife and scrape out the little vanilla seedlings inside (I have no idea if "seedlings" is the correct term, but I'm going with it).

See all the little seedlings? $2.99 is still a lot to pay for a couple vanilla beans that will only last for one or two recipes, but I LOVE the way vanilla bean tastes in this frosting... and I don't make it very often, so I don't mind the expense...

Uh, yeah... clearly my cupcake-decorating skills are right on par with my math skills...

Maybe some colored sprinkles will distract from the haphazard frosting placement...

They'll still TASTE good, regardless...

P.S. I may or may not have licked most of the leftover frosting out of the bowl when I was finished frosting the cupcakes. Don't judge me. I spent all afternoon baking -- that has to burn SOME calories, right?? :)