Page 39 - Cupcakes

3. Place a large raspberry or blackberry on top before baking.

4. Use a pastry bag to squirt 1 tablespoon of pudding into the center of the
cupcake after it’s baked.

5. Insert a fortune before baking. Write on strips of parchment paper and
wrap them in aluminum foil before pressing them into the batter.

2. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Prepare the cupcake batter: Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the
pans aside. Place the cake mix, cocoa powder, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla
in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30
seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber
spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping

down the sides again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined.
Spoon or scoop a heaping ¼ cup batter into each lined cup, filling it two thirds of
the way full. (You will get 24 cupcakes.) Place the pans in the oven.

the CupcakeDoctor says...

Dutch process cocoa powder is intensely flavored and darker in color than
regular cocoa. It will darken the already dark color of the devil’s food mix
and contribute to the “blackout” appearance, as well as intensify the flavor
of these cupcakes.

4. Bake the cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your

finger, 17 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire
racks to cool for 5 minutes. Remove 4 cupcakes from the pan and crumble them
into a bowl to make coarse crumbs. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the
remaining cupcake liners, lift the cupcakes up from the bottoms of the cups
using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your
fingertips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before filling.