yummy cupcakes.

i've somewhat turned to baking as an outlet for my boring life. well, i suppose i've always been a baker and also enjoy cooking. lately, i've been trying to concoct slash perfect my cupcakes. i'm a big fan of chocolate. (if you hear or believe otherwise then you obviously haven't met me.) when i was last in nyc, i stopped by crumbs bakery. i was tempted by all of their delicious flavors, but went with the ever simple squiggle cupcake. ever since, i've been trying to figure out how to actually insert a frosting filling into a cupcake. i've also been curious about making my own frosting and have become quite adept at making some dark chocolate frosting. below are some pictures of my very own creation.

looks pretty good, if i do say so myself.

first, i make a box of chocolate cupcakes. i don't get too inventive when it comes to the cakes.

while the cupcakes are baking i suggest making the chocolate frosting first.

1 c. sugar (i usually use about half the sugar)

1/4 c. cocoa (i used hershey's special dark)

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

melt all ingredients and let bubble for 1 min. set aside and cool. after the mixture is cool mix with mixer for approximately 5 minutes or until it looks like frosting consistency. it should look something like this:

while the chocolate icing is cooling, mix the white frosting for the filling.

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. milk

2/3 c. crisco (i suggest using less, i think the frosting tastes too much like crisco on its own)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. water

1/2 c. powdered sugar

beat all ingredients, except powdered sugar for 7 minutes. then add powdered sugar and beat for 5 min.

then comes the fun part...

i tried both a turkey baster and a syringe to insert the frosting. the turkey baster is much, much more frustrating, but inserts more icing. with that being said, i would probably stick with the syringe though. (i was too sticky and slightly frustrated to take any pictures of this process.) after inserting the filling, ice the cupcakes with the chocolate frosting. to top them off, i put the remaining filling into a plastic bag, and cut the tip off. then add the squiggle or your own design on top. overall, the process itself is frustrating, but worth it, if you like the people you are making them for. the first go round i did all the making and baking and my sister inserted the filling. so doing all of it this time proved to be a little less fun. but look how pretty! the taste is worth bragging about as well.

enjoy!