Magnolia's Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream

Ingredients:

Speaking as one who has had the cupcakes at Magnolia's Bakery in New York City several times and one who has made this recipe many times, the differences are few. The homemade ones may not look as pretty or professional as the bakery ones, but they taste nearly identical. To make the cupcakes, you will need:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step 1:

And a mixer:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2:

Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers. This recipe makes roughly 2 dozen cupcakes.

Step 3:

In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside.

Step 4:

Melting the chocolate. You'll need some double boiler action to do this. But, if like me, you have no double boiler, one can be created very easily. Find a small pot and a small heat resistent bowl that will nest easily into the pot.

Step 5:

Fill the pot with just enough water so that when the bowl is nesting in the pot, the water doesn't splash out. Put the water on to boil. Put the 6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate into the bowl.

Once the water is boiling, put the bowl of chocolate in the pot to melt the chocolate. Turn down the heat on the water so it's just simmering (if you leave it on a full boil, hot water will go everywhere).

Step 6:

Stir the chocolate until it's totally melted. Set the bowl of melted chocolate aside to cool to room temperature.

Step 7:

In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth.

Step 8:

Add the granulated sugar.

Step 9:

Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy.

Step 10:

Add the eggs 2 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Step 11:

Add the chocolate, mixing until well blended.

Step 12:

Well blended:

Step 13:

Add the sifted flour/baking soda mixture in small doses, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla.

Step 14:

Mix until batter is well blended and smooth. When done your batter should look like this:

Step 15:

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling until roughly 3/4 full (I kind of overfilled a few of mine by accident).

Step 16:

Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking periodically to make sure they don't burn. The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the cupcakes from the tins to cool. Once all the cupcakes are cool, it's time for the best part, the frosting!

Step 17:

To make Magnolia's buttercream frosting you will need:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6-8 cups of confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Step 18:

Put the butter in a large bowl, add 4 cups of the sugar, then the milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.

Step 19:

Gradually add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time, until the frosting gets to a decent consistency for spreading (you don't want it too runny or too thick). The frosting should look like this once you're done:

Step 20:

Add some food coloring to you're frosting if you are so inclined. I added a few drops of red to mine to make it pink.

Then spread the frosting generously onto each cupcake.