A Year of Cupcakes

Tomorrow is a rather special day- it is my birthday!  Since I am turning 19 tomorrow, I decided that I needed to spend my last day of being 18 doing something special.  My 18th year was truly incredible- I had just made my way through half of my first semester at Columbia, and had met some of the most amazing people.

I had my first cupcake baking parties with my friends from high school over break.  18 was when I really began to experiment with baking, and fell in love with baking cupcakes.  Whenever I was home I tried out new recipes, always hesitant to repeat a recipe just because there were so many new ones I hadn't tried yet.

Then, over the summer I started my blog.  The summer was full of cupcakes and treats, which continued right up until the fall.  Then I moved into The Cupcake Suite.  We have become a sort of cupcake family, spending evenings together, cooking dinner for each other and enjoying, what else, lots and lots of cupcakes.  So of course, today I decided to bake.  I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, making scones and cupcakes and enjoying a rare relaxing day.

We got more jalapeños this week in our CSA farm share, so I decided to make the cheddar jalapeño scones again, since those were a hit last time.  They went perfectly with a bowl of chili that the guys made last night.

For the cupcakes, I decided to make my classic (and favorite) black magic cupcakes, but this time i decided to go with a mocha frosting, since there is coffee in the cupcake recipe already.  They came out really well, according to my taste testers, and were a wonderful way to end my 18th year.

Mocha Frosting

Enough for 12 cupcakes

5 tbs butter, softened

6 oz cream cheese

1 1/2 tsp coffee grounds

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbs cocoa powder

Cream butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Add brown sugar and mix thoroughly.  Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add coffee grounds and cocoa powder, mix, and refrigerate until firm enough to frost with.

Bon Appétit,
Margaret