I am a wally brain. The white buttercream you see was originally meant to be cinnamon flavoured, but idiot that I was - I’d forgotten about it completely only at the moment I’d piped it onto the cupcakes! But it turned out good because it kept things simple. The next disappointment was the almost-unnecessary addition of (watch this) cold milk. Cause and effect: my buttercream curdled. 2 preschool mistakes today. Boy, was I utterly annoyed with myself. I’ve made buttercream before. I’ve experience working at a cake shop. So why was I making these silly mistakes?! Honestly? I think everyone has a bad day, or a day where you just space-out and go somewhere else. Which is therefore fine and I’m alright giving myself allowance for mistakes. But, blimey. It has put me in such a mood. I thought I’d publish this on my blog as a reminder to myself of the silly things I do. Besides, this blog is all about kitchen trials and drama. So mistakes are only a natural aspect of it.

When the buttercream started to curdle, I flipped out completely and started screaming my head off. My drama queen days are yet to be over. To top it off, the hand holding the wooden spoon thought it’d be a mighty fine moment to twitch, sending a spray of sifted icing sugar across my Abercrombie top. Seeing as this classifies as a tiny kitchen drama, I honour my blog code with this.

Amateur that I am, I can’t help these setbacks. But good thing is: I learn. At least I hope I do. All is not lost either as this recipe is then kept very simple and classic. As Kate Nash once said, ‘keep it simple, guys. keep it classic’ which is the motto a lot of the blokes I know go by. There have been times when I’ve been accused of meddling too much and overdoing things. Alright, I do admit that once in a while I do go over the top - it’s just cause I like to over-achieve. But somewhere I honestly believe that only when we meddle and play with the classics can we find new classics! And so the original Godfather will remain as it is and even more ‘classic’ than it already is - it’ll be timeless. Let’s just say space of generic transformations of these Godfathers keep moving us forward in time to find new things to try so that cooking is never boring! My favourite Godfather would be the chocolate and vanilla combination. Each on its own works just fine, but together, they’re a phenomenon to behold. So there. Not much to be sad about considering I attempted what I have defined as ‘timeless’ and so I give myself a pat on the back and say ‘ay, not too shabby’.

Good thing that happened out of this was - I’ve found the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever! I have tried different recipes here and there, and they’re all good, just never quite perfect the way I like it. It’s either too dark, or not dark enough; too wet, or too dry. This recipe is moist,but not too moist to the point that it’s gooey; holds its structure well; great taste! and doesn’t taste flat at all; smells amazing and works perfectly well with the simplest of buttercreams. Also, I tend to assume recipes that use blocks of ready chocolate are way better than those which require unsweetened cocoa. Don’t know how that came about but that’s absolute bollocks. This recipe uses cocoa, and doesn’t ask for any complicated, fancy pants ingredients which is great. I have to thank Chockylit for this recipe, it’s her Old Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes and the only thing I’ve altered is the sugar. Instead of using 2 cups of white sugar, I’ve switched it to 1 cup soft dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup caster sugar. Because it’s so simple and as classic as the OREO cookie, it’ll be perfect for kids and adults alike. I know my mum, who is not a big fan of dark chocolateyness, will love this too. Not an overpowering cupcake, it’s a great recipe to keep as a base for any sort of funky recipes you might like to try. Indeed, when there is a wicked thing such as generic transformations, there’s always a time for you to give it a go

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Recipe yields 24 regular cupcakes.

Best Moist Chocolate Cupcakes & Naked Buttercream
Ingredients

3/4 cup butter
1 cup soft dark brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbs coffee granules
1 1/2 cup milk (I used semi-skimmed)
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the buttercream:
1 cup unsalted butter
3-6 cups of icing sugar (depending on how you like it)
1/4 milk, if needed to thin it

Preheat to 190d Celsius.
Beat butter till soft, smooth, creamy and pale. Add sugar and beat till creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa and coffee granules together. Mix the vanilla and milk together in a small bowl or pouring jug. Add a third of the dry ingredients into batter, mix well. Add half of the liquid, beat well. Alternate till you end with the dry ingredients.
Line muffin tray with liners. Fill cups 2/3 full.
Reduce oven heat to 175d Celsius (this trick is once again thanks to Chockylit). Bake 25-30min.
Let cool completely before icing.

To make the buttercream, beat the buttercream till nice and pale. Add a cup of icing sugar. Give it a good mix then slowly add the rest cup by cup. If it needs thining, add the tiniest bit of milk that is at room temperature! Be careful not to make my mistake. The more sugar you add, the better it is for piping. Or if you’re going to just slap it on the cupcakes with a spoon or palette knife, less sugar is needed.
I have piped this with a plastic bag snipped at the corner. I recommend using a proper piping bag or a baking parchment folded. Also, use a piping tip. Don’t take the lazy, poorman’s route like I have.

If you’ve liked this post, and love old-fashioned classic dishes, watch out for my next post tomorow. I’ll be making Eton Mess! Nothing like strawberries and cream to send you up on a cloud of ecstasy of gastronomic proportions.