Sometimes, the hardest part of this blog is deciding what to write about. Lately, my life has become pretty routine – I follow the same schedule and do the same things, week after week. It’s hard to write about interesting things when you aren’t DOING interesting things. {Well, blog-worthy interesting things, that is!}
I just mentioned that fact to my husband. He told me that I needed to start doing something interesting, then.
I glared at him and told him that I was going to start writing about him if he didn’t watch it.
So, I began typing and writing about this cupcake, and began to get on a roll. Then, it started.
He began his nightly ritual of reading his websites on the internet – mostly political and news sites – after a few minutes of which he started reading them out loud to me. I could only half-listen for so long before he caught on and realized that I was only half-listening.
I’ve seriously lost my train of thought three times now.
He’s doing it again.
Don’t get me wrong. I really look forward to our evening conversations. The girls are in bed and we finally get to sit down and actually talk to each other without interruption. One of the things I love most about my husband is the fact that we can (and do) talk about and tell each other everything.
Except, he says, when I’m too busy blogging and he’s trying to read political cartoons to me talk to me.
Yes, I think I’ll start writing more about him. Actually, I might start blogging some of his recipes too. He’s really a fantastic cook.
So, this is my husband, on our wedding day. It’s one of my favorite pictures of him:
I know, he’s dreamy. 😉 Now that you’ve met him, and because he was being impatient with my blogging tonight, be prepared to hear a lot more about him. (I warned him, right?) Actually, our annual honey harvest is coming in the next few days so I’m sure he’ll be back on the blog very soon.
He loves this idea.
OK, I know you came here to read about these darling cupcakes so I’ll get to it. I made these for my fabulous cousin (who is practically a little sister to me) for her birthday. She requested chocolate, and I had some of those cute little mini M&M’s so these were born.
These are a dark chocolate cake, a recipe I’ve used a few times now and really enjoy. Then, they’re topped with a marshmallow frosting (think Italian meringue or 7-minute frosting) which is dipped in chocolate. Another dollop of frosting and a sprinkle of M&M’s and these just look like a birthday cupcake, don’t they?
I hope you’ll give these a try! Feel free to Pin them on Pinterest, or share the recipe with your friends!
Happy Birthday, dear Maggie.
And welcome to the blog, Mr. Lemon Sugar.
Don’t forget, if you haven’t yet, make sure you stop by my Facebook page and follow along – you can also find me on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!
Thanks for stopping by today! Leave me a comment below so I know you were here!
♥erin
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa
- 1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
- 8oz bittersweet chocolate squares
- 5 egg whites
- 1 and ½ cups white/granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 bag mini M&M's
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) and prepare two cupcake tins with cupcake papers.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Use a whisk to stir together.
- Add the oil, eggs, milk and vanilla.
- With a hand mixer, beat on medium speed for one minute.
- Add the boiling water and beat for another 20-30 seconds.
- The batter will be thin.
- Evenly divide batter between cupcake tins, and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack.
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat chocolate according to directions on package.
- I heated mine for one minute, then used a fork to stir until chocolate was completely melted and smooth.
- Allow to cool while you prepare the marshmallow frosting.
- In a double boiler over medium heat (or a glass bowl over simmering water), whisk to combine egg whites and sugar.
- Continue to whisk until the sugar dissolves completely, which you can determine by feeling the mixture between your fingers. This usually takes 4-5 minutes.
- You don't have to whisk continuously, just frequently to prevent the eggs from "cooking" on the side of your pan.
- Once the mixture is smooth and the sugar is dissolved, pour into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Beat on medium speed for 7-10 minutes, or until the mixture is thickened and beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl in sticky strings.
- Add the vanilla, and beat just to combine.
- Place the frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a large round tip.
- Pipe a small mound of frosting on to each cupcake. If necessary, allow the frosting to sit in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set. (I didn't need to do this, my frosting was stiff enough.)
- Carefully dip each cupcake into the chocolate to just cover the frosting mound.
- Place in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to set chocolate.
- Using the remaining frosting, pipe a small mound on to the chocolate, and immediately sprinkle with mini M&M's.
Great post! Love the pics of the cupcakes!! I know it’s almost midnight but I really want to make these right now. I guess I’ll wait till tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks! 🙂 They’re fun!
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i completely agree.. it’s so hard to think of things to write about sometimes, especially when you’re busy!
great post.
and DELICIOUS cupcakes, i have to make these asap!
They look so cute! I’d love to get those on my birthday.
I am going to be the best mom in the world this weekend…when I make these…thank you so much for sharing with us at our first HAPPY HOUR FRIDAY linky party….you have a beautiful site and it inspires my new love for food photography…thank you…xo
OH my gosh these look heavenly. You have such a beautiful space here. Your photos are gorgeous. Thank you so much for sharing these at Happy Hour!
These are adorable!
I made them as mini cupcakes and they were adorable. I had trouble dipping them in chocolate so I drizzled it over. It was just as good. I also used salted butter instead because I didn’t have any undated butter and the cupcake tasted good. I’m happy with how they turned out and I’ll definitely make them again.
I would bet that the mini’s were harder to dip! If you try again, just make sure they’re very cold! Glad you liked them!!
I made these today and must have done something wrong. You said the batter will be thin, mine was very thick. I’m sure I followed your recipe exactly. And I must have re-read it about a hundred times. I didn’t want to throw the batter out so I decided to bake them anyway. They had the texture of a brownie and were still very yummy. But do you have an idea what I may have done wrong?
I made these again after you updated the recipe and it made a huge difference. They are delicious!! I go to school in the evenings and I took them to my class, everyone loved them. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe! I can’t wait to make the rest of your 25 favorite cupcakes. 🙂
🙂 glad to hear it!
I just made these cupcakes and they were delicious, moist, easy. I did not have enough cocoa so added one package of hot cocoa mix. I figured, it’s powered like cocoa, maybe it’ll work and it did! Very nice recipe and I will use this for my chocoholic husband from now on. The frosting I did not do since did not have egg whites, and chose a flour frosting from Pioneer Woman’s website. It it called” the best frosting I ever made” but unfortunately it was a complete flop. Texture was horrible. Frosting separated. I’m an accomplished baker and I could not get this to work. Soooo, next time I will come to YOU for guidance. Thanks, love your website and am subscribing today!
The look so cute and yummy I cant wait to make them!
They look fantastic and I’m hoping to make them soon. But I was wondering how they hold up overnight?
They would be fine overnight. You could store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight if you like, but that might mess up the frosting. 🙂 I left mine out, and they were fine.
mine came out very fudgy, i cooked them more but they still seemed very moist… are they good to eat?
This is a very moist cake recipe, but it shouldn’t be fudgy. They should be good to eat, but it does sound like something went wrong since the consistency is off!