A Hungry Bear

I would have made a great 1950’s housewife. It makes me obscenely happy to bake desserts for A - so much so that I can get in trouble for it. At first he loved it, coming home to have a chocolate kahlua cheesecake baked for him for no apparent reason. Then, maybe 10 pounds later, I could tell he was feigning excitement just a little when I presented him with the second pie of the week. So what do I do? Stop baking “just because” cakes and “Tuesdays are special too” pies? Of course not. It’s all about portion control. I’ll only bake *cupcakes* because I can make just 12 of them, and A isn’t staring down a 3 tier cake. I’m considerate like that. This recipe was adapted (halved, actually) from one of my favorite food blogs, Pinch My Salt. The original is here; I’ve included the half-batch amounts in this post.

Grocery list: (for the cupcakes) 1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used twice as much as the original), 1 1-ounce bottle of red food coloring, 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; (for the cream cheese frosting) 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar.

Start by lining a 12-cupcake baking tin with cupcake liners. Set out the butter, cream cheese, buttermilk and egg - everything should be room temperature before you start.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, and set aside. This is my great-grandma’s sifter that she used to make probably a million biscuits. How cool is that?

Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer for 3 minutes, on medium speed.

Add the egg, then the vanilla. I have this new beater blade that acts as a spatula so you don’t need to keep turning off the mixer to scrape down the sides, which really works surprisingly well.

Add the vanilla…

And the cocoa powder (keep mixing in between)…

And the red food coloring.

Next, to keep things from getting lumpy, alternate between adding a third of the flour mixture with half of the buttermilk (so it’s flour, then buttermilk, flour again, buttermilk again, and flour one last time).

In a small ramekin, mix the baking soda with the vinegar. (Remember science class in 2nd grade, this is how they made volcanoes right? So don’t be too surprised when it fizzes for a second, it’s supposed to do that!)

Stir that little bit of fizziness right into the batter with a spatula, just until combined.

Divide the batter into the cups, so they are about 2/3 full. The original recipe comes with this great tip for scooping out the batter with an ice cream scoop to reduce the mess - of course I couldn’t find mine when the time comes to finally use it. Just be careful, that red food coloring will STAIN.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in one of them comes out clean. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then move them over to a wire cooling rack. While they are cooling, you can start on the frosting.

After thoroughly cleaning the stand mixer parts (unless you want pink cream cheese frosting), put the softened butter and cream cheese into the bowl.

Add the powdered sugar. Don’t rush this part - use the slowest setting on the stand mixer until the sugar is incorporated, and maybe even break out the plastic dust shield thing that came with the mixer. If you’re too hasty, the powdered sugar will puff up everywhere. (I’m still cleaning powdered sugar particles out of the bookcase half a room away.)

After the sugar has incorporated, add the vanilla extract, then crank up the speed to medium-high. Beat until the frosting is light and creamy.

When the cupcakes have completely cooled - and not a minute sooner - you can frost them. A’s dad, Sev, always says I should make a double batch of frosting, peel off the liners, and frost all sides of the cupcakes. He even has a plan for sticking toothpicks in the bottom of the cupcakes so they set up on stilts. Considering this half batch of cupcakes was my attempt at complying with A’s diet, I have yet to try that suggestion.