WOW scale: 9
Time to prepare: 1 hour
Skill required: Restraint
1 cup cocoa
2 cups boiling water
2-1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2-1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix cocoa and boiling water until smooth in a medium size bowl.
3. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt onto wax paper; set aside. (Yes, you can use a platter if your pantry is so deprived you don't own wax paper. Tsk.)
4. Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the large bowl of an electric mixer at high speed for 3 minutes. (3 minutes=180 seconds: 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand...) Remove bowl from mixer.
5. Stir in flour mixture alternating with cooled chocolate mixture, beating after each addition until batter is smooth.
6. Line muffin pan cups with fluted paper liners or grease each cup. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.
7. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes or until centers spring back when lightly pressed with fingertip. (Be sure hands are clean. People are going to eat these.)
8. Cool in muffin pans on wire rack 10 minutes; remove with narrow spatula; cool completely on wire racks. Frost with chocolate frosting.
CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
1. Melt butter in a large saucepan.
2. Stir in cocoa, milk and vanilla until smooth; remove from heat.
3. Beat in powdered sugar and salt until smooth.
Yields: 42 cupcakes
Substitutions: Margarine for butter if you think the trans-fats are less destructive. Splenda for sugar. Check package for substitution amounts.
Commentary: This is fairly easy to prepare. The main drawback in mixing the ingredients is the impulsive need to eat the ingredients before they make it to the oven. It's VERY rich and is in the "chocolate-to-die-for" category. This is a treat to serve your very best friend and also to tempt the hussy who has been making goo-goo eyes at your husband. If there is someone you just can't tolerate but dare not insult - she who is always watching her weight - be sure to serve this and wrap some up to give her to take home. She should be 5 pounds heavier in the morning. And... if she asks if you used dietetic substitutions, your answer with a perfectly straight face is: "Of course! What else?"
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