A Recipe From Blooming Into Life

There’s a moment in Blooming Into Life when Mary Ann watches her niece and granddaughters frost cupcakes for the Criss Creek Fourth of July celebration, and realizes the recipe isn’t really about cupcakes at all. It’s about everyone who stood at that same counter before her — the women who passed this recipe down, hand to hand, generation to generation.

So this is that recipe: a deep, moist chocolate cupcake under a buttercream frosting. They’re the kind of thing you bring to a gathering and watch disappear. And every time I make them, I think about Mary Ann, Kirby, Mabel, and Chloe.

If you’ve read the book, you already know why these matter. If you haven’t yet — well, now you have a reason to bake first and read after.

Why These Cupcakes Are The Best

These aren’t fussy. That’s the whole point. In Criss Creek, the best food is the food that brings people to the table without making anyone feel like they have to perform. These cupcakes look like you tried hard and taste like you tried even harder, but they come together with ingredients you probably already have.

The chocolate base is rich and tender. The buttercream turns an everyday chocolate cupcake into something that feels like a celebration.

Ingredients
For the chocolate cupcakes:

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot brewed coffee (it deepens the chocolate — you won’t taste it)
  For the buttercream frosting:
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Make the cupcakes. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two muffin tins with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Stir in the hot coffee last — the batter will be thin, and that’s exactly right. Fill each liner about two-thirds full and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool completely before you go anywhere near the buttercream.
2. Make the frosting. Beat the softened butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, then the cream and vanilla, and beat until silky.
3. Finish with a few sprinkles or a single berry if you like.

A Few Notes from My Kitchen

If you’d rather skip the coffee, hot water works.

If you make the cupcakes a day ahead, frost them the morning of, keep them somewhere cool, and they’ll hold beautifully until you need them.

This recipe comes straight from the pages of Blooming Into Life, my first novel set in my fictional small town of Criss Creek. Want to read the first few chapters? Fill out the form below and I’ll send them to your inbox.