It's good to be back!

 Shiny and delightfully tasty. You might be able to eat just one.

Maybe. Possibly.

Aw, cupcakes.

I used to be known for my cupcakes, you know. I mean, my friends still get excited when I say I'm baking a batch of them, but it's not as often as it used to be and honestly, it's not the first thing someone thinks of anymore and this is both good and bad. But it is what it is. The other day, however, I wanted to make cupcakes. Badly. So I thought about what I wanted and then I really went old school - I broke out the Elinor Klivans book cupcakes!

It's bangerang, kids. You should all get this.

I wanted something simple. Something that would make a bad day better, which sometimes means complicated and involved but on that day? No. Complicated and involved was a bad idea. So I went with the butter cake cupcakes and their sticky fudge frosting. The deciding factor to stay with the frosting? It's made from sweetened condensed milk. COME TO MAMA.

Plus. I had some really cute cupcake wrappers that my friend gave me.

Now, this recipe calls for cake flour, but you can make your own with some flour and potato starch. All the substitutions I read had corn starch as the thing to turn the tide, but as that would make me gross, it's not in the house. Potato starch, though, is. Tapioca starch would also be a good choice. It's one tablespoon of starch in a one-cup measuring cup, then enough flour to finish it out to an even cup, by the by.

Anyway. Everyone will love these, even if your oven is wonky and makes them bake a little unevenly like mine did.

 See? Just a little. It's still pretty bomb, though.

Ingredients:

- 1 1/4 cup cake flour
- 1 TSP baking powder
- 1/8th TSP salt
- 1/2 cup butter (one stick), room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 TSP vanilla (or an extra splash, it's okay)
- 1/2 cup milk (I used 1%, but it called for whole. damn cake is lucky I didn't use skim.)

Now. To make these delightful butter cakes you're going to want to first preheat your (hopefully not wonky) oven to 350 F. Pop your cake liners in your muffin tin.

Mix your cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it's smooth and creamy - if you sneak a bite, I won't tell. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until blended, then add the vanilla and beat for about another two minutes. Add in the flour mixture in three additions and the milk in two, making the batter smooth and delicious. It should be just mixed together, ideally. But no one will hate you if you forget because you are ranting about, say, someone in your apartment and beat it a little more ferociously than intended.

Fill each cupcake liner with 1/4 cup batter, just to the 1/2 inch below the edge. Bake until the tops feel firm and a toothpick comes out clean, which should take about 22 minutes. Again, this means your oven? Is not a demon from hell. Lucky you!

I still like my oven for working at all, honestly.

Now. Put your cupcakes on a wire rack to cool.

Hop to the frosting! You will need...

- 2 oz unsweetened, chopped chocolate
- 2 TBS butter, at room temp
- 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1/8th TSP salt
- 1 TSP vanilla

Put the salt, chocolate, butter, and sweetened condensed milk in a heatproof bowl or sauce pan and place that over another sauce pan of simmering water. Or, if you have a double boiler, use that. Stir constantly and cook for about five minutes, the chocolate and butter will have melted and the frosting will be smooth and thick. Remove from the stove and stir in the vanilla. Pour the frosting into a bowl and beat it for a few minutes (2 - 3) until it thickens a little more and cooks to lukewarm. This frosting needs to be a little warm to spread, so you're really just sort of cooling it down with this step.

 This is some glossy, delicious, frosting. Wowza.

Great with strawberries, I'd imagine.

Now frost those sweet little cupcakes! The recipe says use about two tablespoons on each one, I think I just put a spoonful on - I had frosting left over and poured it into a plastic storage container, chucked it in the fridge, and later used it in all manner of delicious ways. Including spoon-to-mouth.

You can let the cupcakes sit uncovered for about an hour, for the frosting to firm up, but if you eat one right away no one is going to blame you. I put mine in the fridge.

 One down, as many more as I can manage to go!

The recipe says you can store them in a covered container for three days at room temp, but honestly, I doubt that they will last that long. Too delicious!

Now, pour yourself a glass of the good stuff and enjoy.