Cupcake of the Month!- Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Alright here is the first installment of the Cupcake of the month series! This recipe comes from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book. My mom's group this month did a boys lunch out, so while the boys were out to lunch, D and I made cupcakes. Boy it is sooooo much easier to bake with the kids when there is just one of them. We had a great time! We made the chocolate chip cupcakes with white butter frosting. The only problem was that we didn't have enough cake flour, and we had to combine regular chocolate chips with butterscotch chips to make the right amount. No worries on either count! I pulled out my America's Test Kitchen baking book for a quick cut on how to "make" cake flour. If you are out, and the recipe calls for it, then you can use: for 1 cup of cake flour - 7/8 cup all-purpose flour with 2 tbsp. cornstarch. It works!

The peanut practicing scooping the batter into the cups.

Watching the egg whites get whipped into place.

Helping to stir in the chocolate chips.

The finished product! Yummy!!!

Okay, and now for the recipes:


Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
3 1/4 cups plus 1 tbsp. cake flour (not self-rising)
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. milk
1/2 cup plus 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites, room temp.
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Frosting

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line standard muffin tin with paper liners. Whisk together 3 1/4 cups cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir the vanilla into the milk to combine.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until smooth. Adding the sugar in a steady stream, beat until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 additions of milk mixture, and beating until just combined after each.
3. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form (do not over mix). Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Gently fold in the remaining whites until just combined. Toss chocolate chips with remaining tbsp. cake flour, and gently fold into batter.
4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean and the tops are springy to the touch, about 22 min. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temp. or frozen up to 2 months in airtight container.
5. To finish, use a small offset spatula to spread cupcakes with frosting. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temp. and if desired, decorate with sprinkles before serving.


Fluffy Vanilla Frosting:
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temp.
1 pound (4 cups) confectioner's sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract


1. With an electric mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and creamy, about 2 min.
2. Reduce speed to medium. Add the confectioner's sugar, 1/2 cups at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of bowl as needed; after every two additions, raise speed to high and beat 10 seconds to areate frosting, then return to medium. This process should take about 5 min. Frosting will be very pale, and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla, and beat until frosting is smooth. If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 10 days in a airtight container. Before using, bring to room temp, and beat on low speed until smooth again, about 5 min.