Last Minute Valentine's Day Stuff

Oh my gravy! I think I am in heaven with this cupcake recipe. 
I have been on a cupcake kick since Christmas. The cupcake is a perfect size and since they seem to freeze well, I can put them in the freezer and defrost one for dessert. They are perfect for Mr. Bill. They don't have too many carbs. (Almost had a blogger fail! Spell check would not have caught crabs. Big difference in meaning!) Ha ha.

I wanted to do some cupcakes for my team and thought chocolate with these cute cupcake liners would be fun. Of course I needed Valentine sprinkles. I got these at Michaels. 

Beware these are from a cake recipe called Black Magic Cake!

Here:

1 3/4 c flour

2c sugar

3/4 c cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup black coffee-luke warm

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1tsp vanilla

Mix and beat 2 minutes

Use a soup ladle to spoon into cupcake liners. I filled the cupcakes 3/4ths full. Some of them leaked over. This batter is super thin and it made a mess!

 I promise it is worth it though.

Bake a dozen at a time @ 350 degrees until cake tester comes out clean. 

15 -18minutes. Test after 15 minutes.  

It made two dozen cupcakes.

Some of them looked like this.

Clearly I filled it too full.

I made the chocolate frosting that was in the recipe in the link. I did not like it. It said to cool the melted chocolate. When I made the frosting it had tiny chips in it and it tasted way too sweet or something.

I threw that away and started again. 

1/2 cup cocoa. I use Hersey's

2 cups powdered sugar

3/4 stick butter

2 Tablespoons water

1/4 tsp vanilla

Mix well. Add more water or powdered sugar until you get a spreadable consistency. This frosting has a wonderful hint of chocolate without going over the top. 

I put the frosting in a bag and piped it. I'm not sure they were the prettiest cupcakes I have ever seen. 
The cake is very glossy so I am not sure I like it showing.   

While the cupcakes were baking, I made these tags from 25 cent hearts also from Michaels. I painted them with chalkboard paint.  

When they were dry, I drilled small holes and threaded ribbon through them. I wrote a little message and tied them onto to the bagged cupcakes.   

I thought I was in heaven when I tasted this cupcake. They are moist and rich but not too doughy. 

They really are Black Magic though, because they caused me to not eat my supper. 

Sprinkled with cocoa, 

Katie
Linking with:At Home With K- Terrific Under Ten Tuesday
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