Every once in awhile you run into a recipe combination you really just have to shout from the rooftops. Lucky for me I have a blog instead and can just post it here. The cupcakes I made yesterday are so worth sharing!

I was a bad mom and didn’t style/decorate/plan the classroom gingerbread party today. Instead, I actually (gasp) made some cupcakes FROM SCRATCH. I almost always buy my cupcakes. And I am thinking maybe I should do this more often, as these turned out to be roll-your-eyes-back-in-your-head good. Like, couldn’t believe I was bringing them for 5-year-olds who wouldn’t truly appreciate them good. I had planned to dip the tops in ganache before the marshmallow frosting–definitely will do that next time.

For the cake part, I used Ina Garten’s Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe. This turned out so rich and moist. The batter seems really thin, and I filled the cupcakes 3/4 full instead of the usual 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or so for cupcakes.

Beatty’s Chocolate Cake

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
• Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line your tins to make 24 cupcakes.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

And while I usually go running when I am required to boil something to make frosting, I stuck it out this time and made this Marshmallow Frosting from Martha Stewart’s site. I made meringues with what I had left over.

They really mean that use immediately part. Last night the frosting was far better than it was today. So there you have it — my sugar rush for today, and a 5 star recipe to try if you have the time for some scratch baking!