The sweet tooth won

I've always been more of a salty snacker than sweet, but ever since I was pregnant with Evan, my sweet tooth has gotten a little out of control (admission of guilt). I finally started to get it back under control since I noticed how tight my pants were right after Thanksgiving. Between working out at least every other day and substituting fruit for less healthy treats for dessert, I finally started noticing progress. But progress was halted once I read my sister-in-law's recent blog post. I'm not much of a baker, mostly because I know I shouldn't make such decadent treats because then I'll EAT them! Well between the blog post and an episode of How I Met Your Mother tonight that showed sinfully delicious looking chocolate cake in at least 3 scenes, my sweet tooth beat out my self control. As I mentioned, I'm not much of a baker, and I wasn't about to go out while post-snowstorm cleanup is still in progress just for sweet treats. I knew I had cocoa powder in the back of the pantry and I was hoping and praying that it didn't expire because I have no idea when the last time I used it was. After thorough examination of the package, I didn't see any expiration. Phew! And there was a recipe for chocolate cake/cupcakes on the back, Score! And I actually had all the ingredients! It was meant to be. After reading the instructions, I knew it would be beneficial to use an electric mixer... something I haven't used since my apartment days and was hoping I still had all the pieces to it. I dug up the body of the electric hand mixer from the laundry/storage room and cleaned it off. I found the attachments in the back of a kitchen cabinet and was hoping they fit because back in my roommate days we had 2 mixers and a plethora of various attachments between the two. They fit! Like I said, it was meant to be. (Un)fortunately I didn't have any powdered sugar so I couldn't make the icing. I put "un" in parentheses because I used this argument to justify having more than 1 cupcake. And by more than 1 I mean 3. Yes, I ate 3 cupcakes. And I don't feel bad. They were light and fluffy, yet rich and deliciously moist.

Here is the recipe if you care to try! I halved the recipe because it makes 2 9-inch round cakes or 30 cupcakes. I went with cupcakes.

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water (I just used the hottest my tap goes and it came out fine)

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans. (or line cupcake tins with muffin cups)

2. Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour into pans. (I poured the batter into a liquid measuring cup which made it easy to pour into muffin cups - fill 2/3 full)

3. Bake 30-35 minutes for cakes, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pants to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (recipe below). 10-12 servings.
Bake cupcakes 22-25 minutes. Makes 30 cupcakes.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups.

{no picture because they didn't puff way up or get iced and the presentation was highly lacking. Just picture dark yet delicious flat-top lumps in a muffin tin}

I'd like to add that Jack practiced amazingly impressive self control and didn't have ANY. He opted for V8 and a clementine. What a guy.