chocolate cupcakes + cream cheese icing

after making my birthday cake, which was my first experimentation with chocolate, i wanted to make cupcakes as well. on thursday night i whipped up this batch & i'm proud to say i'm very happy with them! paula deen recipes haven't disappointed me so far. i've found that i'm starting to prefer cakes made with oil instead of butter, they're always lighter & fluffier, which is the texture i prefer. dense cupcakes can still taste nice, but i love bouncy cake.

i used 2 separate paula deen recipes for these. for the cake, i used this recipe, but omitted the filling elements. the filling is supposed to be coffee buttercream by the way, so maybe i'll try that one day! for the icing, i used this recipe, which i always use for my red velvet cupcakes as well.

lately when it comes to icing i've just been using a good old ziploc bag. i need to get some tips & get creative! round icing is pretty but i want to experiment.

for the cupcakes:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 3 large eggs
• 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat the oven to 350 degrees f. line muffin pans with paper liners and set aside.

in a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. add oil, coffee, & eggs. beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. mix in the sour cream & vanilla.

spoon the batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, for 16 to 18 minutes. let cool before icing.

for the icing:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

beat the butter, sugar & vanilla together until smooth. add confectioners sugar slowly until incorporated.

mini MAC haul

on friday night i went on a little trip to the summit in birmingham with the girls for a shopping trip. we had cheesecake factory for dinner. i got alfredo & jw's lemonade, nom.

we stopped by all our usual favorite places & then i went by MAC to spend a giftcard that was burning a hole in my pocket! i picked up a new bottle of fix+, brush cleanser & eyeshadow in 'gleam'. i've never tried the brush cleanser & i got it in hopes of being encouraged to clean my brushes more often. most girls can agree that their brushes don't get a thorough cleaning nearly enough, so here's to hoping this helps in that area. last, i got an eyeshadow in 'gleam'. though my favorite neutral shadow is 'naked lunch', i wanted to pick up a different neutral for every day. i liked the warm golden tones in 'gleam' & i thought it would be pretty for fall.

the biggest october recap ever

my little toshiba pc finally bit the dust. i had an affection for it, i'll admit. it was the first computer that was mine. it got me through 2 years of college & there were plenty of memories attached, but it was time for him to go. he had been running poorly, & quite literally falling apart. the screen was totally detached from the base & i had to prop it up against a wall or other objects in order to use it. it was a sad, sad sight. one night i was watching katt williams videos with my roommate, & just like that, he was gone. screen black. dangling wires protruding from cracking strips of plastic. no lulling hum of the hard drive, no flashing battery light. rest in peace, dear friend.

but not really, because you were not a very nice computer to begin with. i made the mistake of doing no research prior to your purchase. i waltzed into best buy & picked out what was shiny. it's my fault. but, i digress.

so you can imagine my utter joy when this baby showed up on my doorstep. the transition is complete, i'm officially a mac person. bye bye pc.


a recap of the second half of october: i turned 21 at last on october 13th, & i had a great birthday weekend with my family & friends. my first legal drink was a tropical cosmo. typical, right? i asked the bartender for the girliest concoction he knew to make, & that what i got, complete with an orange slice. of course, it wasn't my last drink of the night. i found myself with way more wristbands than i had intended to collect. i got some great gifts, including gorgeous pearl earrings from my grandparents, betsey johnson perfume, MAC goodies, vs pink sweatpants (those were a need, ok?) & the fun of baking my own cake with my mother. my best friends also surprised me at midnight & brought cupcakes to my apartment! my incredible roommates got me the philosophy microdelivery peel kit (review soon!), a vanilla candle & some bath salts. they know me all too well.



the next week, i drove to birmingham to have dinner with someone special & fell in love with pf changs. why hadn't i eaten there before?! i've been dreaming about it (& the person i ate with) ever since. i don't like to get too personal on the relationship front, but let's just say i'm crushing hard.

the weekend of the 22nd my parents drove up to stay with me & go to the tennessee game. the next week was fall break! i had wednesday & thursday off from class, so two friends & i went camping at cheaha state park down in talladega national forest. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. we did tons of hiking all day & it was so exquisitely beautiful, oh my gosh. we picked the perfect time of year to go, just when the leaves are changing & the air is cooling down. i'll be posting the film photos from that trip in a later post!

i'm honestly surprised i was able to put this entry together, because the past month has been so busy. i'm only taking 12 hours this semester, how is this possible? my agenda is packed! i'm excited for the holiday season & i've got lots to look forward to. also, how did i forget that having butterflies in my tummy 24/7 was so fun? it's the best feeling. the things that have changed in my life in the past 3 months have been for the better, & i'm so happy that my life is headed down a different road.

sinfully delightful chocolate mousse cake

normally, i don't undertake endeavors like cake. i enjoy their tiny counterparts, the cupcake. however, for my 21st birthday in october, i knew i wanted to make something special... something divine. i stumbled upon this recipe for a chocolate mousse cake & knew it was the one. when i read further & discovered that it was a paula deen recipe... let's just say my heart was set.

cake decorating is something that i haven't really experimented with, so i was grateful when this recipe called for simply covered the cake in chocolate shavings. more chocolate? don't mind if i do. i found that tilting the cake to cover it was kind of a daunting task, & i wasn't ready to risk the cake itself for the sake of it's beauty. so, it's sort of a monster chocolate cake. it's not the prettiest. it's not even in some places. & that's totally ok with me, because it tasted so damn good.

here is the recipe i used for those interested. i would highly reccomend this cake for any special occasion, or just because! if you're more dedicated to cake decorating than i, it can look amazing. or it can just taste delicious, which is what i focused on.

a post on my 21st birthday & life since then is coming soon! i'm getting photos developed from my camping trip to cheaha state park tomorrow so that i can include them. i've got a busy week ahead of me & i'm probably going out of town this weekend.