Lazy Day Chocolate Cupcakes

Sometimes I go all out. Sometimes I dress my desserts up with piped frosting, flower decorations and fancy designs. Then sometimes, I just want a cupcake. The more simple, the better, and the faster I'm able to consume.
My friend sonja came over after her swim practice. By then I was:
A) exhausted from my two hour workout. Yes, an hour of intermediate pilates followed the very next minute by an hour of "cardio conditioning" class. I'm pretty sure the Evanston Athletic Club (EAC) should make someone sign a waver before entering such a class. It should come with a warning label on the door, then another one on the weights: Do not attempt if you have a strong desire to have function of your muscles in the next 48 hours.
B) Craving Chocolate (but really, when is that not the case?) and
C) Getting ready to leave for Cleveland the following morning.
So, what could be more easy, more delicious, and more decadent for us to bake than our favorite cake in CUPCAKE FORM?
It was genius! We could give it away to friends and family since I was leaving, and also eat one for ourselves whilst having a quiet, lazy, tuesday afternoon.
Now, Sonja is also getting ready to add another family member to her household. In approximately four months, their new puppy will be born. After we got nice and hyper on chocolate and sugar, we started spitting out silly dog names faster than Chuck Bass downs his drinks. Somewhere in the midst of giggling, we managed to think of some fun and perfect names. Here were some of our favorites:
-Nala
-Cleopatra
-Athena
- Artemis
- Biscuit
So, if anyone's out there reading me, your input would be greatly appreciated!
Now, on to the cupcakes:



Look how gorgeous they look next to the vase of flowers James gave me (I knew I kept him around for a reason).
Obviously romance and chocolate cupcakes go hand-in-hand; in fact, they practically arranged themselves into a heart!

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes:
Ingredients
2 Cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flower
1 cup Dutch-processed 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
1 teaspoon chocolate extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 24 cupcake- cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
1. Stir together flour, coca, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add eggs and whisk well.
3. Add milk and oil and extracts and whisk for 2 minutes.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then take the cupcakes (in the liners-duh) out of the tin to cool COMPLETELY before frosting!
5. Frost the cupcakes! with decadent chocolate frosting and fluffy, sweet vanilla cream cheese frosting (recipes below).

Chocolate frosting recipe
ingredients:
5 tablespoons butter
1/3 + 2 tablespoons Cocoa powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 + 2 table spoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Melt butter in microwave-safe bowl. Stir in cocoa powder until fully incorporated.
2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk beginning and ending with the milk until you have desired frosting consistency.
3. Stir in vanilla extract and VOILA! You have melt-in-your-mouth chocolate frosting.
If frosting is not your desired consistency:
Add milk if you wish to achieve a thinner glaze-like frosting
Add powdered sugar if you like thicker, fluffy frosting

Vanilla Frosting Recipe



ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese
4 Tablespoons salted butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
splash of milk
1. Cream together cream cheese and butter.
2. Add powdered sugar slowly, mixing on medium speed the whole time
3. Stir in the extracts and splash of milk. YUM!

You can frost these cupcakes as fancy as you want, or simply slather on the frosting for immediate consumption and treats for the boyfriends! They're beautiful and to-die-for-delicious either way!

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

I have discovered something very important about myself this summer. I have an "addictive personality". That is to say, I get addicted to every thing I love and all of the sudden, I can't get enough of it. This discovery probably deems it necessary to lock me in a virtuous room with nothing but a bible and carrot sticks for the rest of my life. BUT I found a loophole.
Participating in the Appalachian Service Project for a week every year always helps clean my conscience.
In fact, by the time I returned, all my sins of Spain were forgotten and I was ready to take on a new addiction.
Read: Lemon Blueberry Pound cake. A moist, delicious lemon-flavored cake with a heaping cup (or two!) of blueberries mixed in the batter. All topped with a lemony cream cheese frosting-glaze. Probably the guiltiest addiction I've developed, if only because I singlehandedly ate half the cake. Okay, so it's definitely not the only new addiction I've acquired, or my favorite, but it certainly is the most dangerous.
If you have the same dangerous personality type as me, you'll bring this beautiful bundt to a family barbecue or a picnic on the beach. Or you could just shamelessly embrace your addictions and dig in with a friend and a fork (I chose this one!).
As long as your addictions don't surpass those of Tiger Woods', who had to get carted off to "keep it in your pants" camp, you can still keep it classy.
So please go make this cake. You'll thank me later. Read: As soon as you get a lick of that frosting.



Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

Ingredients:
For Cake:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 plus 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Extract
3/4 Teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used nonfat, but some people prefer full fat)
2 cups blueberries
For blueberries: 1 tablespoon flour, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup of lemon juice (or juice form about 2 lemons)

For Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze:
3 ounces of softened cream cheese (no skimping on the fat)
1 Tablespoon Butter, softened as well
2 cups confectionary sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/8-1/4 Cup lemon juice (add more until glaze reaches desired consistency, I eyeballed this)

Make the cake

1. Grease one medium sized bundt pan. Make sure to get the grease all up in the ridges. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together 1 1/4 cups flour and the baking powder and salt.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and both sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often.

4.Add the eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
5. Beat in the extracts and lemon juice. Reduce to medium speed and add the flour mixture alternatively with the yogurt, starting and ending with the flour. Beat until everything is completely incorporated.
6. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with a tablespoon of flour and the almond extract. Gently fold the blueberries in the batter, making sure they are evenly distributed throughout.

7. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 60 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out completely clean. keep your eyes on the cake, not the time!!! Cool in pan for 20 minutes or so before dumping the cake onto a plate.
8. Pour frosting evenly over your beautiful cake.

Frosting:
1. Beat together the cream cheese and butter.
2. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar and lemon juice, alternating between the two until frosting reaches desired consistency.
3. Stir in the extracts.
4. Pour over your cake!!!