a rainy day, chocolate cupcakes and a happy 3 year old

ahh... a rainy day... a rainy saturday to be exact... not much to do down here in tourist town when its raining... PLUS, the hubby's working a 24... so it's just me and the little man... no doubt the toy box will be emptied out all over the living room, and we'll be watching some pixar movies, and probably some spongebob too... and of course, i'll bake something...

it's a bit of a routine when the hubby works an overnight... i'll bake something and load it up and bring it to him and the other gals and fellas he's working with... not only does it mean i get to test out some new recipes on some eager taste testers, but it also means i won't have all these goodies hanging around the house begging me to eat them! even though i'm preggers, i don't use that as an excuse to eat a batch of cupcakes or cookies... would i? could i? hell yes... but i resist!

anyways... before the hubby left for work i asked him to give me a challenge... something i haven't baked yet but have been dying to try... after a few moments of thinking he replied, "how about just a chocolate cupcake with some vanilla bean cream cheese frosting"... umm... BORING... delicious yes, but i've been there done that... but hey, it does give me a chance to tweak this chocolate cake recipe i've been working on... so i will abide... well, maybe i'll stray a little on the frosting (insert devil-ish laugh)...

so my afternoon starts... i've got my pandora radio on (if you dont know what this is, your missing out!) and its on the Queen station... it plays quite the mix of awesome music ... but anyways... i have my tunes, my ingredients all organized on the counter, jacks hanging out watching a movie, and i'm ready to go...

i love this chocolate cake recipe... i cannot for the life of me remember where i first stumbled across it, i would love to give credit for whoever's it is, cause its an awesome recipe... the only real difference from the original recipe is i add 2 more ounces of chocolate, and a few little things here and there... this recipe gives a killer chocolate cake, moist with a soft crumb, and loaded with chocolate and coffee flavor... LOVE IT!!

chocolate cake:

dry ingredients:

3 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups a.p. flour

1 1/2 cups cocoa powder (i use 1 cup cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup special dark cocoa powder)

2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/4 coarse seasalt (i make my own vanilla seasalt, just for that added vanilla kick... i place the seasalt in a mason jar, along with a split vanilla bean and shake it up a bit... after a few days the salt has a subtle vanilla undertone... and it looks pretty all speckled with the vanilla)

wet/fat ingredients:

3 eggs

3/4 cup veg. oil

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

6 ozs. chopped good quality bittersweet chocolate

1 1/2 cups strong brewed hot coffee

directions:
1. preheat oven to 325 and prep your cupcake tins with liners
2. chop the bittersweet chocolate, place it in a lrg. glass measuring cup, and pour the hot coffee on top. let sit for about 5 minutes, then stir to make sure it is all melted and smooth
3. sift together all of the dry ingredients in a lrg. mixing bowl
4. in stand mixer on medium, beat the eggs until slightly thickened and lemon colored, 3 minutes
5. add the buttermilk, the veg. oil and the vanilla to the egg and beat until combined
6. slowly add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, and mix until combined
7. turn mixer down to low, and slowly add in the dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl as necessary, and mix until combined
8. fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick come out clean

now for the fun part... the frosting!

i made a classic vanilla bean creamcheese frosting... slightly tangy on the sweet... yum! also, i was in a peanutbuttery mood so i also made a whipped peanutbutter cream... i mean come on, peanutbutter and chocolate... need i say more... well hopefully the hubby and his coworkers enjoyed them... i know me and jack did... and i think ben liked them too, he kicked me a bunch after i finished eating... he's already developed good taste!

as you can see jack could hardly wait for me to finish before he dived mouth first into them... thats my boy!

here's a few more of the little man devouring his cupcake