Double chocolate cupcakes

Nothing says "Happy Birthday" like chocolate cupcakes.

My friend had a birthday recently and I promised to make her some cupcakes. These make a great gift - personalised, handmade, and delicious. They're always going to taste better than store-bought cakes too. 

Baking your cupcakes in a muffin tray helps them to rise neatly.

In order to make your cupcakes look really professional, and like a gift, you can purchase cupcake boxes for a few dollars from specialist cake stores. There are a few of these in Sydney, and some operate online. There is also eBay for boxes and other cupcake supplies. With a ribbon around them, they look beautiful. 

Totes profesh.

In terms of a recipe for these, I just use my standard vanilla one, and throw in some cocoa. I don't measure it, I just keep adding it until I decide it's chocolatey enough. If the mixture seems too dry due to the extra dry ingredient, you can add more milk. 

The icing is regular buttercream with liberal amounts of cocoa also. A bit of thickened cream is particularly nice in chocolate buttercream; it gives a nice gloss and texture. 

So simple, but so good.