Ohhhh boy. What a week. Does it sometimes seem like the world is out to get you; as if Karma has decided to pay you back for all the bad you’ve done all at once? This week is a continuation of a previous bad week, and has already been filled with raging mothers, raging coaches, raging hormones, and ragingly bad grades and even worse news.
It all started out on Monday with a math test. Who understands those pesky geometric formulas and theorems anyway? I mean unless I want to find the lateral surface area of one of my cakes, I see no reason why I would use them. I don’t need any of those fancy number crunching, life-complicating formulas. Now you may ask yourself: How bad did I do? Well, let’s just say that I didn’t manage to finish most of the problems in the allotted forty minutes time…
After that, the week just kept going downhill. I don’t know what it was, but someone must have slipped grouchy pills into the drinks of all the adult females in the general area. Not only were there unpleasant situations in the classroom, but also on the soccer field and at home. Seems like there’s always something to be reprimanded about. I’m sorry we can’t all always be perfect, ma’am.
The real killer day came on Tuesday. On Monday I had injured my ankle in the soccer game against Highland Park, and when I talked to the trainers they confined me to crutches. I strongly detest crutches… with a fiery passion. Not only do I already hate being injured and unable to play, but crutches add insult to injury. They make me feel vulnerable and useless; everyone is always asking “What happened?”, “Are you okay?”, and the ultimate killer: “Do you need help?”. I do not enjoy being your charity case; I can take care of myself. If I need help then I’ll ask for it. Until then, keep out of my way.
If that wasn’t bad enough, my best friend Ethan had a pole-vaulting accident and was sent to the hospital. He is currently doing relatively okay, he’s resting at home, but of course I was (and still am) worried sick.
After all this, I knew that something simple yet extraordinary was to be made to cheer Ethan (and myself) up. For that is the kind of person that Ethan is: Simple yet extraordinary. The bestest friend anyone can find. Following careful consideration, I decided to make cupcakes. For what’s better than chocolate cupcakes?
These cupcakes are incredibly moist and rich. I recommend finding someone, or several someones, to share these with; otherwise temptation might grab hold of you and lead you to greedily devour a whole batch by yourself. This recipe is quite literally cake batter poured into a muffin pan and then generously frosted so that everyone gets their own individual little cake. Of course if you’d prefer to make this into an actual cake, you are more than welcome to do so.
And once again, GET WELL ASAP ETHAN!
PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
From Hershey’s Kitchen Recipes
For the Cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup baking cocoa
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
§ Preheat oven to 350°F.
§ Distribute baking cups into two muffin pans (12 muffins each, 24 total).
§ Combine and mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla extract.
§ Blend well with a blender on medium setting for approximately two minutes. Add in the boiling water and mix until you get a smooth, even mixture. (NOTE: the mixture will be very thin, this is desired)
§ Pour the batter into the pan, filling each cup about 2/3 of the way. (TIP: To do this I first poured the batter into a measuring cup with a spout so that it was then easier to accurately pour the batter into the cups.)
§ Bake for 20 – 25 minutes; until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
§ Let the cupcakes cool slightly, and then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
NOTE: If you decide that you want to make a cake (which the recipe originally calls for), you can either pour the batter into a 13x9 pan and bake for ≈35 minutes. For a double layer cake butter two round 9-inch pans and then evenly divide up the batter between the two pans. Bake for ≈30 minutes. Let cool completely and then frost. Serve and enjoy, and be forever worshipped!
For the Frosting:
1 stick butter
2/3 cup baking cocoa
3 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (you can also use milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt the butter and then stir in the cocoa. Alternating between adding the sugar and cream until it becomes a smooth, light brown mixture. Add the vanilla extract. Use to frost cupcakes or cake. Also take the time to indulge in licking the spoon and bowl clean. One can never be too old to lick clean the baking supplies!
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