chocolate cupcakes

it was our friend Chloe's 30th birthday (yes is a bit of a spring chicken, it must be said) and we enjoyed an evening at prezzo's and a few cupcakes to celebrate! lovely company, thanks all. we did get a bit loud, methinks... as a couple snuck out, wanting a different table in a separate room. oops.

this is a really nice recipe - easy to make, failsafe (!), universally appealing. you end up with a rich choc taste, without too much sweetness. i think of them as grown up cupcakes, although the boys never knock them back. there is a small amount of coffee in them but it is hardly noticable.

2/3 of a 250g block butter

1 cup brn sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar (just used granulated and worked fine!)

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup cocoa powder

2 tbs instant coffee

1 1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

icing

2/3 block butter

4 cups icing sugar

a little room temp milk if needed to thin

Pre-heat oven to 190C.

Beat butter 'til soft, smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat again 'til creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time. whisk flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa and coffee together. add one third of dry ingredients to one third milk/vanilla. alternate until all mixed together.

Line tray with paper cases. Fill cups 2/3 full.

Reduce oven heat to 175C. Bake 22 - 25 mins. Cool before icing.

To make icing, beat butter intil smooth and pale. Ad one cup icing sugar at a time, until it is a suitable, spreadable thickness. I used a knife to spread it but you could use a piping bag.

I picked thins recipe up from another blog ages ago... with lots of cooking ideas - i think it was http://www.sugarbar.org/ (??)