The Best Chocolate Cupcakes

I mean that title. I've made a lot of cupcakes in my day and this recipe is by far the most wonderful. Cupcakes are all the rage in Ireland at the moment and despite looking beautiful and having tasty frosting, the underlying cake is generally dry, flat and bland. I've lived here long enough to learn never to use Irish or English cupcake or cookie recipes, they're just not the same. So this is a good ole Yankee recipe that requires a little bit of corn syrup. I know you can get it at Fallon and Byrne in Dublin, so I suspect regional specialty shops would be able to acquire it as well. If you need to substitute I would use half the quantity of golden syrup.

Anyway... enough jabbering... let's make some cupcakes!

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups flour
• 1 cup cocoa
• 1.25 tsp baking soda
• 1.25 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup hot coffee
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 3 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 lb icing sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Sprinkles, chocolate, eggs, to decorate (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 150C/325F.  Line two 12 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

Whisk dry ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients and beat with a mixer until batter is smooth.  Spoon batter into prepared pans and bake for approximately thirty minutes. They should be nicely risen and a toothpick should come out clean.

Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.

Cream the butter, vanilla and corn syrup.  Slowly add in the cocoa and sugar and beat at a high speed until fully combined. Add cream and beat until smooth and fluffy.

Once cupcakes are cool, frost them liberally and decorate as desired. Yum!



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