Now, dear readers, I know what you're thinking... "But Connecticute, that doesn't look like a fail at all. In fact, it's quite cute." Definitely cute. I will not argue that. However, the story behind these cupcakes is a tale fraught with sadness and failed attempts. And really, one of my first bake fails ever. So that has definitely heightened the sting of disappointment.
The tale begins on Monday, when I did my usual gather the ingredients photo. (As an aside, I love the gather the ingredients photo, even when I don't take one! It's always a relief to put together all the items I will need to bake something. When I don't gather my ingredients, I scramble for something halfway through baking. I highly recommend beginning your baking by gathering your equipment.)
To make these cupcakes, you will need:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 3/4 teaspoons baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 2 large eggs, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 3/4 cup warm water.
1. Preheat oven to 350° and line muffin tin with paper liners.
2. With an electric mixer on medium, whisk together dry ingredients. Reduce speed to low.
Here's where the wheels started to fall off. My egg exploded on the counter and from there it just got worse. Anyway.
3. Add remaining ingredients, beating until smooth and combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, if needed.
4. Pour batter evenly into liners, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, about 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.
Here was the real fail - the Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Honestly, I can't even say what went wrong. It requires cooking egg whites and sugar and making a double boiler out of the bowl from the mixer. That part went OK, I think. After cooking the egg whites and sugar, then you whip the egg whites until they're frothy and form peaks. They never formed peaks. They got a little foamy, but nothing too peaky. I decided to add the butter anyway, a few tablespoons at a time, just like Martha said. I guess the butter wasn't soft enough, because it was all chunky and gross. Martha's cookbook said that if the mixture appears curdled after adding the butter that it's OK and just keep beating it for another 5 minutes or so. I did 5 minutes, and nothing happened. So I kept going. I stood there while the mixer kept beating for another 30 minutes before I quit. Meringue and I were just not happening that day.
So I moved onto the immensely easy Fluffy Vanilla Frosting - 3 sticks of softened butter, 4 cups of confectioner's sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat butter for about 2 minutes, add sugar 1/2 cup at a time. When sugar is added, mix in vanilla.
Frost with an offset spatula, and use a small (no larger than 3 inches) cookie cutter to fill with decorating sugar in seasonal shapes. I used trees with green sugar. But if you want to do a Hanukkah cupcake with Star of David cookie cutters, that would be really cute.
As failures go, this one wasn't too bad - I was able to recover by using a different frosting. When that meringue was not beating into stiff peaks, I wanted to quit baking and never go in the kitchen again! But of course, as with any other failure in life, I kept going until I found something that worked.
These weren't the awesomest-looking cupcakes I've ever made. But I have to give a shout out for the one bowl chocolate cupcakes. Those are some mighty fine chocolate cupcakes. And it's definitely worth something to keep going after failing. Not my sweetest success, but I wasn't quitting.
