Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing

I have been craving a chocolate cupcake and wanted to try a new recipe so came about this one by combining, mixing adding and changing a whole bunch of recipes – got a little confused with what to leave in, take out, change, increase and decrease but in the end came up with what I believe it the perfect chocolate cupcake.😀  They are light without being too much like a sponge cake, moist with the softest crumb and rose a little souffléish and settled down perfectly while on the cooling rack.  The icing is pretty much my standard with the added sparkle of fairy dust.  A few of my “taste-testers” also thoroughly enjoyed these, and highly recommend you give them a try.  Added bonus:  They keep very well so you don’t have to scoff them all in one day.

Ingredients

60ml cocoa powder
125ml boiling water
250ml cake flour
190ml castor sugar
5ml baking powder
2.5ml bicarbonate of soda
1ml salt
60ml oil
10ml vanilla essence
4 eggs separated (I am sure 3 would work equally as well)
1ml cream of tartar

Icing

60g butter
300g icing sugar
45ml cocoa powder
45ml milk
10ml vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Dissolve the cocoa in the water and allow to cool.
3. Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a bowl and make a hollow in the centre.
4. Add the oil, vanilla essence, cocoa mixture and yolks and combine.
5. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until still and fold into the flour mixture, starting with a third of the egg whites.
6. Divide the mixture between 12 muffin sized tins lined with paper cases.
7. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
8. Allow to cool complete before icing.
9. For the icing, beat all of the ingredients together for 3 minutes.