Mom’s Traditional Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe

Cupcake Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two muffin pans with paper baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
3. Make a well in the center of dry mix and add the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
4. Add the boiling water and whisk until smooth. Batter will be quite thin but do not worry.
5. Transfer the batter to a liquid measuring C. and divide evenly among the paper baking cups.
6. Bake for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

Frosting Preparation:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.
2. Transfer to the work bowl of a stand mixer or using a hand held beater whisk in the cream, vanilla and salt.
3. Sift in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder mixing no higher than medium speed until smooth.
4. If you like, infuse your cupcakes with a chocolate center. Spoon about ¹/₃ of the frosting into a pastry bag, simply snip off the corner off of a small plastic baggie (leaving about a ¹/₄ inch opening). Using a small knife, poke a small hole in the center of the cupcake. Insert the tip of the pastry bag or cut corner of the small plastic baggie and squeeze slightly. With this generous filling, you will simply need to spread a thin glaze of frosting over the surface of the cupcake to cover. If you skip this step, spread a more generous amount of frosting over the cupcake top.