THE GREAT CUPCAKE TRILOGY PART 1: A DESSERT IS BORN

Facing both the prospect of using all my eggs and preparing for my coworker's baby shower, I recently made a fateful decision: smack two birds with one stone by tackling a cupcake (dun dun DUN!)...from scratch.  Now, I've made plenty of cakes in my time and having a mom whose lived one of her many lives as a cake decorator, I've engaged in my share of baking frivolity. But to get me through, I've always relied on the kindness and expertise of my two baking BFFs: Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker.  They's my homies.

Sure, last Thanksgiving I made a pear upside-down cake all by my big girl self, but other than that, I admit my entire cake experience has originated in a box.  And although my mom claimed she liked the pear dealybob, she's my mom.  She's required by law to say things like that.  So I'll be honest -- it wasn't great.  And shame on you Martha Stewart; it was your recipe.  You make me sad.

But I digress.  What I mean to say is that making cake mix from scratch scares the living shit out of me.  In the spirit of adventure, however, I took a leap and here it is:

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter, margarine, or shortening (I used butter)
2 eggs
1 cup nonfat milk
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 packet Starbucks Via instant coffee
1 cup boiling water

One container of cocoa powder: Finito!

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease and flour cupcake tins or fill with individual cupcake papers.  (This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes, give or take.)
3. Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs and mix well.

5. Stir in milk, cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract.
6. Prepare 1 cup of coffee by mixing Via packet in boiling water.  Add to batter and mix thoroughly.

7. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For a cake, use a 9x13" pan and bake 30-35 minutes.

This recipe is another pulled from allrecipes.com and from the reviews I read, I was pretty excited.  It's both popular and well-liked.   However, I will mention that one review said the coffee flavor was unrecognizable but gave the cake a little pop of flavor.  This was what sold it for me so I was disappointed that it turned out to be untrue.  Though it was fairly mild, I could definitely taste the coffee.  For me, this isn't bad, but for non-coffee-lovers, it might not be the best. On the plus side, the cupcakes were definitely akin to a boxed cake (which I love) and were both fluffy and rich in flavor.  I hate dense, bland cake.  This: a win.

Official Grade: A-