Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Cupcakes

In my continued attempts to find a cupcake that I adore to serve at a bridal shower I'm hosting in September, I made Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cupcakes after reading several glowing reviews about the recipe. Admittedly, chocolate cake is not my favorite kind of cake, and I thought these were just ok. Just not that rich or substantial. Maybe I overmixed the batter, but upon taking them out of the oven, they deflated a bit. Good thing I made the glorious chocolate frosting that you see below.

Oh, the frosting. Normally I'm not much of a frosting girl, but I could have eaten the bowl (almost did) and would gladly refridgerate the cupcakes, remove the cake from the frosting, and eat the frosting by itself like fudge (might have done this).

Now, if you are used to making frosting, this recipe is nothing new. But I'm a novice in this area, as I've always just bought the jar of pre-made stuff. Plus, I'm trying to teach myself how to decorate cakes and cupcakes with help from Wilton booklets and YouTube demonstrations. So, it's possible that the pretty swirls make the frosting taste that much more delicious. Anyway, this'll be my go-to chocolate buttercream from now on. Just need to find the "Perfectly Chocolate" cake on which it can rest.

Source: Allrecipes

Yields: 24 cupcakes

2 cups white sugar (I used 1 c white and 1 c light brown)

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup Hershey's 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 (I used natural apple sauce)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 c boiling water (I used hot coffee, per the reviews on Allrecipes)

Heat oven to 350. Put cupcake liners in two muffin pans. Stir together sugar through salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil (apple sauce) and vanilla. Beat on medium speed two minutes. Stir in boiling water (coffee) - batter will be thin. Pour batter into liners. Bake 22-24 minutes until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Rich Chocolate Frosting

Source: Based on this recipe from Allrecipes

1 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Add enough milk until frosting reaches spreading consistency.