I follows the recipe as it is, except the amount of sugar and sour cream. I don’t want to get a “diabetes attack” as usually most cupcakes recipe does have a lot sugar in them, I used 2 cup of sugar instead. As for the sour cream, I bought 300 gr pack sour cream, so I just dumped everything in.

This recipe yields about 36 cupcakes. My husband was so curious that he asked me whether we were having a special gathering or something. There were a lot of cupcakes. I shared some of them with friend and families and packed the rest into an airtight container without frosting. I didn’t bother to store them in the freezer as I know for sure that my husband would devour them. He is a chocolate addict.

If you check Martha Steward website, you will notice that her cupcake colour is really dark. I couldn’t get mine as dark as her. I don’t know, it was probably because of the type of cocoa powder used. Another tricky thing is to get those chocolate curls. I tried few attempts like heating the chocolate block by waving them on the fire then grated them or melting the chocolates onto the stone bench top and curling them using a sharp knife. I failed miserably I gave up and just sprinkled some shaved chocolates on top. I will keep you posted on my attempts to conquer these chocolate curls.

PS. Totally ignore the water bottle. I don’t have a clue how it got there. I was rushing to have a photography moment, as usual, and didn’t pay attention to the surrounding.

The ganache recipe probably yield double size of the cupcakes recipe. I couldn’t imagine on baking another batch of these cupcakes, so I whipped the ganache and piped a generous amount of frosting on top of each cupcake. My husband laughed when he saw the piping style. He said they look like a pile of poo. HAHAHAHA When I look at them now, they do in fact have a resemblance.

Please leave your comment/suggestion if you find this recipe useful. Can’t wait to hear from you and Thank You !!!

For some of you who are not familiar with Pandan, here is a brief information. Pandan leaf also known as screwpine leaf is staple in Asian culinary. It is used for both sweets and savouries. It is used to wrap chicken, to cook rice, to give a distinct fragrance to sweet and dessert. In some dishes, it is best to be cook with coconut milk.

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Don’t be fool with the word Nutella cupcakes because the Nutella was only added to the frosting. These Nutella cupcake wasn’t my cup of tea. The cupcake itself was tasteless and quite dense. The frosting was way way way too sweet for me. I guessed the cupcake and the frosting were quite a good combination because of the plain cupcake taste and the sweetness of the frosting. For me, I wouldn’t make it again. However, I would still like to share this recipe for the Nutella lover out there.

I had some left over chocolate ganache in the fridge, so I just did a quick whip with a hand held mixer and voila. I prefer the one with the ganache, they were not as sweet as the nutella ones.

Ingredients for the cupcake

Recipe adapted from Handle the Heat: Nutella Cupcakes

• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt (I omit this)
• 150 gr butter, softened (I used unsalted butter)
• 1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup sugar)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup whole milk (I think it is best to use the milk at room temperature)

Ingredients for the frosting

• 3/4 cup butter, softened (I used unsalted butter)
• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 cup icing sugar (I used 1/2 cup)

Instructions for the cupcake

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If I have to compare them with the previous Chocolate Cupcakes that I posted, they taste pretty similar. In fact, I can’t remember the difference, maybe because I don’t have them at the same time. Well, I don’t know, but this recipe only requires 1 egg.

Ingredients for the cupcake

Recipe adapted from Julie Hasson’s Best Cupcake Recipe: Best Chocolate Cupcakes

• 160 gr plain flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Ducth-process cocoa powder (I used Cadbury cocoa)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt (I didn’t use this)
• 201 gr sugar (I used 150 gr)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola oil)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I didn’t use this)
• Chocolate Ganache

Instructions for the cupcake

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I have always wanted to make red velvet cupcakes. Almost every reviews on any version of rev velvet recipes on the web are really positive, and I felt like missing out on these amazing cupcakes. It must be really really good.  I decided to make Ms. Stewart’s cupcakes. Well, I couldn’t take any chances and chose someone else recipes. If the cupcakes failed, I am doomed. I made the cupcakes in the middle of the night to be used the day after. And Ms. Stewart’s recipes never failed me.

I had been researching on how to frost and decorate the cupcakes for days. Lots of interesting ideas but couldn’t be achieved due to time constraint (another self excuses of mine). I was thinking of doing chrysanthemum flower frosting, but then I don’t have the tip. Then I decided to make sunflower frosting, but my leaf tip is way to big. Oh whatever, I just went with the sunflower idea using my big leaf tip, and taaaa daaaaa. They didn’t really look like a sunflower, but it didn’t matter. Nobody know what they supposed to be anyway, except they were pretty flower cupcakes.

All the cakes slices and cupcakes were sold $ 2 each, except mine and one box of cupcakes (a mum bought them in cupcakes store). Ours are sold $ 3 each. How flattered I was to be sold as expensive as the well known store bought cupcakes.

If you could see the colour of my Swiss Meringue butter cream, you’ll notice the colour varied slightly. It wasn’t intentional. The frosting literally melt while I piped them. It wasn’t the beginning though, it was the left over icing on the bag. I try to put just enough butter cream to be piped within 5 minutes time frame. More than that time frame, the butter cream left would slightly melt and darker in colour. To make it worst, we don’t have air con in our apartment and it was summer.

My verdict for these red velvet cupcakes is LOVING them. The textures were moist and soft. I think it was because the recipe asked for cake flour instead of plain flour. We don’t have cake flour here in Australia, so I followed this method. Although the flour need to be sifted 5 times and requires muscle work, they are worth the hassle.The only thing that I will do differently next time I make them is to omit the red colouring.

For the recipe, click here. For the frosting, you could use cream cheese or butter cream. I think cream cheese will taste so much better. I am a big fan of cream cheese

Please leave your comment/suggestion if you find this recipe useful. Can’t wait to hear from you and Thank You !!!

The things I did different or would do differently are:

• I omit the salt, and will still omit the salt.
• I would reduce the amount of sugar from 2 cup into 1 1/2 cup.
• I would use the torch to brown the meringue, instead of baking them for few minutes in the oven. Well, I didn’t have a torch then.

For the recipe, click here.

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The thing that both of I and Nathan don’t like is the licorice. No offense to the licorice fans but YUUUCCKKK. They taste like a cough medicine. The licorice was intended for decorations only. We licked them and store it for future use. Hahaha… kidding…

Ingredients

• One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
• Swiss Meringue Butter cream, tinted into 2 different colours (green and reddish, or anything you like)
• Tinted caster sugar
• Black colour gel
• M&M’s chocolates
• Black licorices
• Small pointy ice cream cones

Instructions

1. For tinted caster sugar: place enough caster sugar in a ziplock bag. Using a toothpick, take a dip in the colour gel and apply to the caster sugar. Mix the colour to the sugar by pressing and shaking them. Add the colour a little at the time as you needed.
2. To decorate the witches cupcakes and the spider cupcakes, refer to my pictures (It is much harder for me to explain how to than to look at the pictures)

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I made this few times already. The first time I made them was for my son’s third birthday. I used cream cheese frosting instead with a sprinkle of brown sugar on top and a burried strawberry inside the cupcake. The idea is from I Heart Cuppy Cakes, thank you They taste so much better with strawberry buried inside them. So fresh yet creamy and so sweet yet sour at the same time.

Ingredients for the cupcake

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart, for details click here

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Cadbury cocoa)
• 192 gr flour
• 300 gr sugar (I used 200 gr)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt (I didn’t use this)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tbsp safflower oil (I used canola oil)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for Chocolate Ganache

• 454 gr good quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used Nestle Dark Chocolate Buttons)
• 2 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup corn syrup

Instructions for the cupcake

Instructions for the Chocolate Ganache

(click here for Martha Stewart way)

1. Bring cream and corn syrup to a simmer over medium high heat.
2. Add all of the chocolate to the mixture and let it stand, without stirring, until the chocolate begins to melt.
3. Stir chocolate until smooth and let it cool down slightly before refrigerate.
4. Put it in the fridge, it will continue to thicken over the time. Stir every 15 minutes until it reaches the right consistency.
5. Don’t worry if the ganache becomes hard. Use the handheld mixer, and beat it up. They will be smooth and ready to be use again. They will be lighter in colour after beating though.

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I used Martha Steward recipe. Martha never fails me, at least until now. I trust hers because the cupcakes always turned soft, fluffy, and light. They are quick and easy to bake and always please the crowd.

The trickiest part is the pineapple flower. To slice the pineapple very thinly was the hardest part. I was struggling to get a full thin round cut. Using a very sharp knife would be a great help in this task. I think  I got around 18 good slices out of a pineapple. Then to bake them at around 100 C, it took me more than 2 hours to get a tray of pineapple flower done in the oven, and there were 2 of them. It took me half day to get them done. I will try different approach next time I made them. Patting them with paper towel to drain the juices may speed up the baking process. I will update the post with my new attempt to conquer these pineapple flowers.

Ingredients for the cupcake

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart, for details click here

• 384 gr all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (I didn’t use this)
• 1/2 tsp salt (I didn’t use this)
• 226 gr unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups sugar (I used 300 gr)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large)
• 1 can (8 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained (I used 226 gr fresh pineapple, crushed)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I used pecans)
• 1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut (I used fresh grated coconut)
• Cream cheese frosting
• Dried pineapple flower

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting

• 120 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 250 gr cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup of icing sugar
• 1 tbsp of vanilla essence

Instructions for the cupcake

Instructions for the Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Using a handheld mixer, softened cream cheese.
2. Then add unsalted butter and vanilla essence.
3. Add icing sugar a little at the time. You can stop when you achieve your consistency or the level of sweetness.

Please leave your comment/suggestion if you find this recipe useful. Can’t wait to hear from you and Thank You !!!

Nathan had 3 birthday celebration and it was just because we couldn’t book the function place soon enough. He had his first birthday on the 29th of August (his actual birthday) with me, his dad and little brother. His second birthday was on 31st of August at his kindergarten. It was only singing, blowing candles and eating cakes with his friends and teachers. Now the third celebration on the 18th of September was a big one.

Party Guest: 30 – 35 people

Party Menu:

• Nasi Tumpeng (Yellow Rice), 4 kg of rice
• Ayam Bakar Bumbu Rujak (Grilled Chicken), 5 whole chickens
• Sambal Terasi (Sambal with Shrimp Paste), 500 gr chilies
• Rendang (Beef Rendang), 5.5 kg beef
• Sambal Goreng Hati (Chicken Liver Sambal), 2 kg potatoes, 2.5 kg liver
• Tahu Tempeh Bacem (Fried Tofu and Tempeh marinated in palm sugar and herbs), 2 boxes of tofu, 2 packs of tempeh
• Perkedel (Fried Mashed Potatoes), 4 kg potatoes
• Mie Goreng Ulang Tahun (Fried Egg Noodles), 700 gr egg noodles
• Gado-gado, 1 lettuce, 1/2kg potatoes,1 box tofu, 1 cabbage, 4 cucumbers, 1 dozen eggs
• Peanut Sauce for Gado-gado, 1 kg peanut
• Strawberried Treasure Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The cooking plan was thought through weeks ahead. Monday and Tuesday were for herbs and nuts pureeing and sambal terasi. Wednesday and Thursday were for cooking chicken, beef rendang, tahu tempeh bacem, and perkedel. They were all packed in an airtight container inside the fridge. I should actually took a picture of how my fridge look like. I didn’t have the time to take a photograph. My head and hands had been pre-occupied almost all the time. Friday was dedicated for the cake. The decorating part had to be done after the birthday boy fell asleep. Friday afternoon was for cooking sambal goreng hati.

Everything was as I planned and imagined by Friday afternoon. When my husband went home from work, I asked him to drive me to the groceries store. I wanted some chocolate coins to decorate the Pirate Ship birthday cake. I also had to buy some chillies for the peanut sauce. This chili thing for the peanut was something that I didn’t expect to happen, but I believed that it wouldn’t cost me my time. Well, my husband had another plan. He was hoping to get a parking on Friday night in the city so he could stop by the Apple store to get an Ipad. What a timing huh. We circled the city for few minutes. It felt like hours to me. Time was ringing TICK TOCK!!!  TICK TOCK!!!  inside my head. Well long story short, we couldn’t get the chocolate coins and by the time he got the parking, the Apple Store closed (LOL).

The birthday boy was asleep by 9 o’clock, but the baby kept waking up and asked for frequent breast feed. Well I think it was around 1.30 AM I was done with the cake decorating. A little story behind the cake. I was planning on making the Dinosaurs cake for a long time, but I couldn’t seen to get matching merchandise like goody bags, plates, toys and decorations. When I was hunting for them, I found lots of Pirate things instead, so we decided the theme is ” Ahoy there… YARGGGG Pirate”. Look at these goodies bags, aren’t they cute?

I searched through probably about hundred of pirate cakes on the internet to brainstorm my idea. They are almost have the same shape and I was kinda combining lots of different ideas that suits me and the decorations available. I designed (well it wasn’t really designing, but arranging stripes of red and white at Photoshop) flags and printed them few days before so that I wouldn’t rush at the last minute. The recipe used was Rich Chocolate Cake , because I think it was the easiest, simple and tasty cake. I made 5 layers of 30 by 30 cm. Having all the plan on how big the ship was going to be and drawn the template on the paper made the shaping of the cake so much faster. And Taaaa Daaaa….. here comes the cake.

If I could do something different, I would:

• Make 3 batches of Swiss Meringue Buttercream instead of 2. As seen on the picture, the cake was lacking on the water and wave.
• Not using the Astor (roll chocolate wafers), as the were too big and look a bit dodgy. I would chose something slimmer like chocolate wafer sticks.
• The chocolate wafers were started to brake because I stand them vertically. I should stack them up instead.

This was another Tumpeng platter I created (I am now starting to take orders, you could see the details on the “I SELL” page). I tried to improve my carving skills every time I had a chance to make one of these. The new addition of my creation is the cucumber, look at how the spread open. I am so pleased

These cupcakes were chocolate cupcakes with strawberry buried inside them, topped with cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with some brown sugar and had a cool pirate flag on each. I didn’t have a chance to take the picture of the inside, because they were all gone very quickly. I tasted one though, and they are so good with a very fresh taste from the strawberry and creamy taste from the cream cheese. Super duper yummy !!!

Please leave your comment/suggestion if you find this recipe useful. Can’t wait to hear from you and Thank You !!!

I didn’t plan to make anything for him on Sunday as I thought he would have his Robot birthday cake (as he requested) at his preschool on the coming Tuesday. Late in the afternoon, his daddy asked me whether I am going to prepare something for him or not. I thought better to make something simple yet interesting for Nathan. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, that is easy, simple and quick. The decoration is no fuss, just need to find an easy, quick yet tasty recipes to make. Before I begin my recipes hunting, I asked my husband what flavour he would like to have on the cakes (He is not a cake and dessert eater, but he loves chocolate). I did my research at night and decided to make Martha Steward’s Double Chocolate Cake and Shelly Kaldunski’s Chocolate Cupcakes.

When Martha Steward’s Double Chocolate Cake is done, I started the carving while waiting for the cupcakes being baked in the oven. I started to pass on the unused cake to Nathan, so he could have a nibble. Suddenly we had this conversation:

Husband: OMG I can’t stop (speaking while watching the series of old cartoon “Duck Tales”)

Me: I never understand how people can’t stop watching this kind of cartoon. I couldn’t seem to find the addictive part of this series.

Husband: I am not talking about the Duck Tales. I couldn’t stop eating this chocolate cake

Me: (surprised and can’t believed what I heard) Really??? Why??????

Husband: I just love the taste… What the difference from the usual cake

Me: There is no egg and butter in it. It uses oil instead.

Husband: Owww probably that is why BUTTER. I don’t like the greasy feeling on my throat after eating them.

Me: Isn’t oil greasy as well????

Husband: (finished the whole cake left over from the carving)

Ingredients for Double Chocolate Cakes

Recipe adapted from Martha Steward, for details click here

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray (I used butter and baking paper instead)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (I used Cadbury cocoa powder)
• 1 1/2 or 192 gr cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup or 128 gr granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sunflower oil (I used canola oil)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream to frost

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I need to get up early in the morning to prepare everything and not be late at the party. Well, I used my toddler as my alarm clock as he usually asked for milk around 6-ish in the morning. After I gave him the bottled, I was  ready for my cupcakes battles in the kitchen. Great, my preheated oven would also help to keep me warm in these cold winter morning. After being in the kitchen for about 1 hour, my toddler just realized that I was not around anymore, then as usual he check me in the kitchen. He sat in the living room very quietly with a sad rejected face as he thought I would felt guilty by leaving him in the bedroom. Yes, he still sleep in between me and my husband. Thank God we share a king bed together, so it is quite spacious. Thank God he didn’t bugging me all those time and sat quietly watching ABC Kids.

I ended up making three types of cupcakes. Last one is Chocolate Cupcake without frosting. These chocolate cupcakes were for my boy and hid daddy as they dislike any type of topping on their cupcake. I thought of bringing some of these cupcakes over for the party as well, but I didn’t have enough hand to carry. I figured 32 cupcakes would be more than enough for the party as well.

Ingredients for Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from I Heart Cuppycakes! : Pretty Young Cupcakes on this link

• 170 gr unsalted butter at room temperature (I used reduced salt butter)
• 335 gr vanilla sugar (I used 200 gr caster sugar)
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 340 gr plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt (I didn’t use this)
• 215 ml milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (I used 2 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scrape out (I didn’t use this)

Ingredients for Cheese Butter cream Frosting

Recipe adapted from http://parmanti.multiply.com/journal/item/11/Cake_Keju

• 200 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used 100 gr of reduced salt Western Star Butter and 100 gr of Red Feather butter)
  
• 150 gr condensed milk/icing sugar (I used 100 gr icing sugar)
• 75 gr cream cheese/grated cheddar (I used grated cheese)

Preparation time (duration): 30

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I started to panic since I haven’t really think of plan B. I started surfing the web and was thinking that cupcake would be a brilliant idea since it was easy to make and I had a very small little tiny chance of getting failed. So, there you go, I decided to make rainbow cupcakes which are just perfect for kids.

That was my first gathering at my toddler’s kindy and I had no idea what the kindy expects mums to bring and what other mums usually bring to this kind of gathering. Little that I know of, other mums just brought ready packed chips, grapes, fruits, crackers, ready packed cakes from grocery stores (no offense to other mums, maybe I just love getting my kitchen busy and steamy). I realized that all my panicking was for nothing. Anyway, if there is another similar gathering, I will still doing the same thing, making a home-made stuff.

Ingredients for Orange Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from http://iheartcuppycakes.com/2009/04/12/taste-the-rainbow/

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 3 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup sugar (I use 200 gr instead)
• 12 tbsp/1 1/2 stick butter, room temperature (I use 170 gr of butter)
• 2 large eggs + 2 egg whites, room temperatue
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk

Ingredients for Lemon Cello Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe adapted from http://www.mytartelette.com/2009/07/recipe-meyer-lemon-limoncello-cupcakes.html

• 60 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature (I use reduced salt butter)
• 120 gr cream cheese, at room temperature (I use Philadelphia)
  
• 1 tbsp lemon cello (I used 1/2 tbsp orange essence)
• 1 cup icing sugar (I used 1/3 cup )
  

Preparation time (duration): 45

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I was researching for so many cupcakes decorations and alternatives. I was thinking of making elmo’s and cookie monster’s cupcake. However, I am afraid that the frosting would taste so chemically because of excessive using of food coloring. So I decided to make butterfly decoration instead. Actually it is easier to use royal icing in making those butterflies, but I try to make my cupcake kid’s friendly, that was the reason why I use dark chocolate and white chocolate tinted pink.

I found so many difficulty in making these butterflies:

• The antennas are completely useless. They were too fragile despite of sticking them together by using melted chocolate. It is better off to draw the antennas using melted chocolate after you finish combining both of butterfly wings. However, drawing the antennas mean that you don’t get the three dimensional effect. Oh well… nobody noticed the antennas in the party
• The white chocolate is really hard to work with. They need to be stirred all the time and you can’t left them or do it in the microwave like the dark chocolate. When they are melted and combined together with the coloring, do not over mix them or otherwise the white chocolate will be ruined and too thick to work with.
• The white chocolate doesn’t seem to be harden at the room temperature, so I need to put them in the freezer for 5 minutes or so. However, you need to work quickly as they are fragile and prone to heat.

Next time, I will just do all of the butterflies wings with the dark chocolate and add some dots as the pattern on the wings.

Ingredients for Orange Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from http://iheartcuppycakes.com/2009/09/20/orange-creamsicle-cupcakes/

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup thickened cream
• 1 tbsp orange zest + 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 114 gr unsalted butter, room temp
• 1 cup caster sugar (I use 150 gr of normal white sugar)
• 2 vanilla beans, scraped (I didn’t use this)
• 2 large eggs

Ingredients for Lemon Cello Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe adapted from http://www.mytartelette.com/2009/07/recipe-meyer-lemon-limoncello-cupcakes.html

• 60 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature (I use reduced salt butter)
• 120 gr cream cheese, at room temperature (I use Philadelphia)
  
• 1 tbsp lemon cello (I used 1/2 tbsp orange essence)
• 1 cup icing sugar (I used 1/3 cup )
  

Preparation time (duration): 45

Please leave your comment/suggestion if you find this recipe useful. Can’t wait to hear from you and Thank You!!!

What I love about this particular cupcake is that I don’t need to use a mixer, which means less things to be wash in the sink (that is the important thing.. right??). I got pretty good reviews from all the cupcake eaters especially about the crunchy top bits. So, here are some tips before you start the cupcakes because I almost ruin this easy cupcake because of my laziness (*wink*):

• I always melt dark cooking chocolate in the microwave although the recipe requested a double boiler. Anyway, I waited for the chocolate mixture to be quite cool, then I add the sugar in. Then I realized that the sugar is not dissolving (%*&#!). I should add icing sugar or caster sugar instead of ordinary sugar. I kept whisking and whisking and whisking, it won’t budge. I boiled hot water quickly then pour it in the pot, so I could place my bowl over that.  … keep whisking and whisking (and thinking to myself “Did I just turn the melted butter into butter again?). Oh what the hell.. I just add eggs and continue with another steps. Thank God my chocolate cupcakes turned alright.
• The chocolate cupcake took longer time to cook than I expected. When the skewer is inserted, it was clean except the top part layer (about 2mm). I guess all the undissolved sugar went up and that made it caramelized and crunchy when eaten.
• I used 250 gr of cream cheese not because I thought that the frosting is not enough for the cupcakes but because that is how much they are come in a packet. Next time, I will double the cupcake recipe for those 250 gr cream cheese.

Here is how the chocolate cupcake looks up close and personal

Ingredients for Chocolate Cupcakes

• 2/3 cup plain flour
• 2 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder ( I used Cadbury Drinking Chocolate)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 85 gr bittersweet chocolate (I used Nestle dark cooking chocolate)
• 155 gr unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp caster sugar
  
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting

• 226 gr cream cheese, room temperature (I used 250 gr)
• 226 gr butter, room temperature (I used 250 gr)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• about 4 cups icing sugar, sifted ( I used 2 cups, but next time I’ll use 1 1/3 cup)
  

Preparation time (duration): 40

Please leave your comment/suggestion if you find this recipe useful. Can’t wait to hear from you and Thank You!!!