What to do when you are blue??? CUPCAKES!!! - A Recipe For A Hard Weekend

So the last few days have been a tough couple of days.    I have been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster due to a very close family member going through major surgery to try to make a dent in their stage 4 cancer.  To add to my tiredness and stress I had to work from 9-9 the previous weekend and then red-eye it home to begin helping my family prep for the surgery.   I have been basically going since 2/28 and last night was my first night off.   I had been suffering from migranes since friday due to exhaustion and stress and they were finally getting under control so I wanted to do something to celebrate my night off.

What to do...what to do...

Oh wait I know!  I will make that which has the power to make almost everyone smile :)

CUPCAKES!

So what were the attributes I wanted in my cupcake:

Heavenly Light and Fluffy
Flavorful and Robust Icing without the Fluff Factor

Fundamentally I wanted comfort food not decorative desert.  I looked up a quick recipe from Epicurious for white cupcakes as white cupcakes are light, fluffy and, pillowy cupcake heaven.  For some reason they remind me of being 6 years old and having my hand covered in icing.  haha.  I digress...

Here is a pic of the white cupcakes out of the oven cooling off:

For the icing I wanted to once again make something very comforting.    I thought about comforting and chocolate is about as comforting as it gets.   I mean for reals...they make your body release natural opiates.    That sounds comforting!

One of my favorite simple chocolate icing recipes is the one on the box of Hershey's brand unsweetened cocoa powder.   I mean it is hershey's...Once again I am six years old with my hand in the icing bowl! hehe :) xoxo

So I used the HERSHEY'S "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting Recipe which is on the side of the cocoa box but also online.   I make one modification to the recipe though....  I cut out some sugar because I want the cocoa to be the star.   So my recipe has the following in it for ingredients:

1 stick of butter (mmmm)
2/3 cup of Hershey's Unsweetend Cocoa
2 cups of powdered sugar (recipe says 3 cups)
1/3 cup of WHOLE milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Now Hershey's recipe for "Perfectly Chocolate" frosting calls for 3 cups of sugar but I use 2 cups.   Why you ask?    I want COCOA to be the star NOT sugar.    With 2 cups it is sweet but also nice and choco-licious.  It retains a bitter of bitterness which is what makes chocolate great.

I let someone try my icing and they responded with the following statement:

"My oh my.  I just want to jump head first into that bowl"

hehe xoxo

Ok now given I am usually an ingredient nut I want to address the Hershey's Cocoa component of this recipe.  Some of you might be saying it's not gourmet, it's not organic, it's not this and it's not that.   Well guess what it's perfect.   Read the ingredients....There are only one.  Cocoa.   GO Hershey's the iconic american chocolate brand.  Oh how I love thee Hershey's.  Your taste, your flavor, your super exciting theme park....ALL OF IT.  ICONIC. xoxo

xoxo

So how did it turn out?????????

PURE COMFORT FOOD DELICIOUSNESS!

YUM YUM FLUFFY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES!