A Portion to Share: Chocolate Wacky Cupcakes

An interesting name for cupcakes - wacky !! I came across this recipe on the Food Buzz.

The name was catchy enough, so was the blog Gingerbread Bagels. There's some charm to that name as well!

My kids and me went " WOW" just looking at the pictures and we just had to make these cupcakes.Thankfully, I had it all but for the chocolate chips.

Wacky cake is a spongy, cocoa-based cake. Unlike most pastries and desserts, no eggs or milk are used to make this cake batter. They say Wacky Cake may have been created as the result of rationing during the World War II when milk and eggs were scarce. Refer Wikipedia for detailed information. Honestly, I appreciate the women who baked during those troubled days :)

So, the cupcakes I made was truly inspired by the step by step instructions of Lindsey's wacky cupcakes.

Mix - 3 cups all purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda and a teaspoon of salt.

Add to this 1 Cup cold coffee,1 Cup of cold water,3/4 cup Canola oil ,2 teaspoons of Vanilla and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. Fold the wet and dry ingredients and do not over mix.

Pour the batter into lined cupcake pan. I have used 2 sized mini cupcake pans as the kids wanted it that way. Remaining batter was used up in the bigger cupcake pan as well. Bake for 15 - 20 mins at 180 degrees in a preheated oven. Once done, they look like this...............as they cool.

COFFEE BUTTER CREAM FOR THE FROSTING - for the frosting I have used the brands that are available here. Therefore,the ingredients are:

1/4 Cup Crisco ( Shortening)
1/4 Cup Butter ( Unsalted)
A pinch of salt
1 tablespoon Bru ( Instant coffee)
1tablespoon hot water ( to dilute coffee powder)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Kahlua( Coffee liqueur)
1 ounce of whipping cream
2 cups sifted Icing sugar

In a stand mixer, beat the butter and Crisco for a minute. Add salt and the diluted coffee. Beat for 30 seconds,scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the vanilla & Kahlua.Beat again till it all mixes well. Slow down the speed and add the sugar a little at a time. Once they are all mixed, check if the cream stands to a peak.Scrape down the bowl,and while the mixer is running, drizzle the cream. I didn't it all. When the mixture looked creamy enough to touch and taste - I took it out to pipe the swirls with a Wilton 1M tip.Topped it with edible sugar pearls:)