Cupcakes

Sometimes cupcakes can do what cake can not. They are the obvious solution to serving a crowd quickly, but their indulgent value as comfort food is more subtle; they say “a little cake, all for me!” Buy yourself a cupcake holder so you can pack a cupcake to go with your bagged lunch.

You’ll need to make up the batter for a cake, such as Chocolate Cake. The full recipe will make approximately 24 cupcakes. You can also usually make half a recipe if you want only a dozen cupcakes.

You’ll also need one or two cupcake or muffin pans. Typically each pan holds a dozen, so if you only have one you can bake the cupcakes in two batches.

Put individual paper baking cups in the pan. You can also grease and flour the individual cups, but using the paper ones is highly recommended; it makes them so much easier to handle both getting them out of the pan and then serving and eating them.

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Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Set the paper baking cups in the pan.

Spoon the batter into each cup, filling them about ⅔ full.

They will take about 18 minutes to cook but it’s a good idea to check after 15 minutes. Use the toothpick test to check for doneness.

When they are completely cool, frost with Buttercream Frosting.

The other cool things about cupcakes is that they almost beg for decoration and you can use your imagination and whatever you might have on hand, such as jimmies or any small candies.