Let them eat cake...

So I made cupcakes for the little one's preschool class this week. They were Easter themed (yeah, I know, I was two days behind on that...but its a Tuesday/Thursday school, so what can you do), and kinda cute. I borrowed the idea from a cupcake article, and I think they turned out pretty good, although 3 year olds and coconut aren't the best combination. Here's a picture:

For these cupcakes I used by absolute favorite chocolate cake recipe. I take that back, the one my grandmother used that my mother now uses is my favorite, but mine never turns out the same, so I leave that one for her to do. The recipe I like to bake with turns out a very moist, chocolately cake that goes perfectly with the Cream Cheese Fudge icing I paired with it underneath the coconut and candies.

This recipe was submitted to AllRecipes.com (my all-time favorite recipe site) by shirleyo, but may have originated elsewhere. I love it because its easy, only uses one bowl (as the title may suggest), and I've never messed it up. Here it is:

One Bowl Chocolate Cake III
Ingredients
2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two nine inch round pans.
2.In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
3.Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.


The one thing that might throw people off about this recipe is how thin the batter is. Its thin. Really thin. Like, practically chocolate milk thin. Don't think you've done something wrong, because you haven't, and I promise it will turn out perfect. Happy baking!