Chocolate "Rose" Cupcakes
Yield: 18-24 cupcakes
 
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup warm water
  • ¾ cup buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoons safflower oil (canola is also fine)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Frosting
  • 2 sticks of butter softened
  • 2½ cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste or a vanilla bean split length wise (lately I'm all about the paste though- so easy.)
  • 2-6 tablespoons of milk or cream
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
  2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each ⅔ full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.
For Frosting
  1. Beat Butter and scraped out vanilla bean with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, (about 3 minutes.) Add the powdered sugar and beat well until mixture is thick and almost paste like. Add extract and 1 tablespoon of milk/cream. Beat well. Slowly add more milk 1 spoon at a time if you think your frosting is too thick or dry. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.
Recipe by The Baker Chick at https://www.thebakerchick.com/chocolate-rose-cupcakes/