Chocolate Cupcakes

This is the first of my chocolate series leading up to Valentine's Day.

I made these cupcakes from Alice's Tea Cup Cookbook.

They were very easy to make and smelled heavenly while baking.

When they came out of the oven and cooled a bit, we decided to taste test them. Well, we never got around to icing these dark jewels because they were delicious unadorned. They were so light and moist that I ate three before I could stop myself. After the tasting, there were only two left and that hardly seemed worth icing so I saved them until later. They were not quite as wonderful the next day but I think if I had filled them with a little whipped cream and decorated them, they would have soared back up to super stardom.

This is  my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe now. 

You won't be disappointed if you try this recipe. The batter is easy and the results are delectable. Get them in the oven and pour yourself a cup of that freshly brewed coffee. Luscious cupcakes are about 20 minutes away

Chocolate Cake -  from Alice's Tea Cup

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup hot coffee, freshly brewed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 12 slot cupcake tin with liners or three 8-inch pans with a non stick spray like Pam.
 In a large bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
 With a mixer on medium speed, add the sour cream, eggs(one at a time), milk, oil and vanilla to the dry ingredients and keep mixing for two minutes, scraping often.
 With the mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle in the hot coffee, mixing until the batter is blended and smooth. It will be very thin in consistency-this is good.

Divide the batter among the cake pans or cupcake tins about 2/3's full and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes for cakes and 15 to 20 minutes for cupcakes.

 Remove from oven onto a cooling rack. Cool ten minutes and remove cakes from pans onto the cooling rack. Allow the cakes to come to room temperature before frosting.