Double Chocolate cupcakes

It's been really a stressful and tiring week. My laptop for some unknown reason decided to died on me,suddenly after surviving a trojan virus 'infection' a couple of months back when I was still in Sydney. I am normally in KL during the weekends but last weekend I decided to take a break from travelling but boy, was it the longest weekend ever, but I guess it was good to take a break cause I am leaving for Sri Lanka this weekend for 10 days. And then after that,it's Sydney all over again.Gosh I dread going back to my final semester in uni but when you think of it,final semester in uni for my entire life,feels good.I dont have to go back to Sydney for a long time. When Sydney is over,I know Paris is just a corner away.Now I am excited. Somewhere new and different.You dont have to put up with certain people in life you cant avoid.

I have been wanting to bake a batch of cupcakes but never came to a decision to which flavour I wanted to try first.

My bake wishlist - cupcakes:

[x] double chocolate cupcakes

[ ] ispahan (lychees,rose and raspberries)

[ ] red velvet cupcakes

[ ] vanilla cupcakes with swiss meringue frosting

I decided on double chocolate cupcakes because chocolate is universally loved.Why this particular recipe because firstly it is by Donna Hay.Secondly, the blog author made it very convincing that this was the best chocolate cupcakes the author has ever made.I, however, used Lindt dark chocoalate and Van Houten coco powder.

I adapted Donna Hay's double chocolate cupcakes from bossacafez but I doubled the quantity for the cupcakes but I found that the recipe for the buttercream given by bossacafez was sufficient for making two batches of cupcakes.

250g unsalted butter

2 cups plain flour

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

1/2cup cocoa powder

3teaspoon double action baking powder

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

150g dark chocolate,melted

for the chocolate buttercream frosting:

250g butter

2 cups icing sugar,sifted

1/2 cup cocoa powder,sifted

1/4 cup cold milk

1. In a bowl, soft together the plain flour, cocoa powder & baking powder.
2. In another bowl,cream butter,sugar & vanilla extract for about 10-12 minutes until pale and creamy. Add in eggs one at a time and continue to beat until well combined.
3. Add in milk and flour mixture alternately in 3 additions, mixing well in between each addition.
4. Fold in melted chocolate thoroughly.
5. Fill cake mixture in cupcake liners until about 2/3 full.Bake in a preheated oven of 160 C for 20 minutes.Leave it cool on wire rack.
6. To make the chocolate buttercream frosting, cream the butter in bowl for about 6-8 minutes until pale and creamy.
7. Add the icing sugar,cocoa powder and mik and continue to cream for another 6 minutes until fluffy and creamy.
8. Frost completely cooled cupcakes.

Note: 

Before adding the milk, check the consistency of the icing. You want a medium consistency icing for easy piping. If frosting is 'soft', place in the fridge for 15 minutes and whip again.