QUICK CUPCAKE FIX

Here?s a quick post about getting a fast fix of sugary chocolatey goodness by baking a really yummy one-bowl chocolate cupcake. I used Martha Stewart?s One Bowl Chocolate Cupcake recipe from her Cupcakes book.

The verdict? Yes, it?s quick and easy and you can do it all in one bowl. I like that. In addition, you don?t have to worry about softening butter. It uses veggie oil. That helps for moistness too.

I swirled some vanilla bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream on my mini chocolate cupcakes and then decided to get fancy with a variegated pink buttercream. I just plopped pink and white buttercream blobs in my piping bag and it came out looking all swirly pink. It?s kind of neat. It looks fancy but it?s quick and easy too.

The buttercream is so smooth and delicious I don?t know if I can ever go back to a simple confectioners? sugar & butter concoction again! It rivals my favourite Beranbaum buttercreams which use a sugar syrup method or a boiled sugar and corn syrup method. At least the Swiss Meringue method doesn?t require you to boil sugar. My only pet peeve is all those egg yolks I have left over?and yes, I do know what I can do with all those egg yolks (pastry cream, creme brulee etc.) but you know how I like things all neat and tidy!