Cupcake Battle Royal

How many kids boys do you know that want to bake cupcakes on a Saturday afternoon?  Mine does, and it makes my heart proud!
For a while now Little Ugh has been chirping in my ear that he wants to start a bakery or an eatery and each time he mentions it I tell him to "get out his apron, I need a partner in crime". (yes, I bought him one a long time ago hoping he might have the same love of baking that I had when I was a kid)
Today, he must have felt especially adventurous...he Googled cupcake recipes, frosting recipes and even conversions!
The end result was some ingredients scribbled on a piece of homework and a lot of running back and forth to the computer to remember each step. (I can't even give credit to the website because I have no idea where he found the recipe for the cupcakes but I can give credit to Rachel Ray who taught him how to make icing with marshmallow fluff)

What can I tell ya, I must have taken a thousand pictures!!
They tasted so darn good, I even drank a nice tall glass of milk - and I don't drink milk.

He settled on a decadent chocolate with a marshmallow fluff icing (good on him because I bought the stuff wondering what I was going to use it for)
TRES BON!
So this post is an ode to my son, the next great baker! XO

P.S. I HAD to post this immediately or else I would have never heard the end of it.


Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Icing
makes 12 cupcakes

1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 c. butter - room temperature
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla

FROSTING:
1 c. butter
1 jar marshmallow fluff
1 c. icing sugar

In a bowl whisk boiling water and cocoa powder and set aside to cool.
In your mixer beat butter until its fluffy.  Add in the sugar and beat more (so I am told).  Add in the eggs, one at a time while it is mixing as well as the vanilla (ok, I guess I contributed, I cracked the eggs...somehow he always manages to get shells in things)
In a bowl add together all of the dry ingredients and then mix them into the butter mixture just until its incorporated.  Finally stir in the cooled cocoa mixture.
Fill baking cups 2/3s of the way and bake in a preheated oven (350F) for 16-18 minutes.
Let cool and then frost.

For the icing:
Mix butter until fluffy and then add the icing sugar and fluff.  Beat at high speeds until light and fluffy.  Put into a pastry bag or Ziploc with a corner cut to pipe onto the cupcakes.

Pretty simple huh?