German Chocolate Cupcakes

Do you recall the German Chocolate frosting by Betty Crocker that came in a box?   All you had to do was add milk and butter to the powdery boxed mixture and voila!   Delicious German Chocolate frosting.   Really, it was good.   Then, already made, jarred frostings came out and that boxed German Chocolate frosting became history. Already made German Chocolate frosting tastes pretty bad.  It leaves a film in your mouth and you can almost taste the added chemicals in it.  It's a bad thing.   

I had a dinner party where I served three different types of cupcakes.   The guests thought this was quite novel (this was a couple of years ago) and I was sure that the German Chocolate cupcakes would probably not be the more popular ones.   Boy, was I wrong.   They went first!   It's like this….either you like it, or you don't.   

I made these cupcakes for a special birthday a couple of months ago.   The recipe is by Shelly Kaldunski, Cupcakes: Luscious bakeshop favorites from your home kitchen .

Note:  As the author of the book mentions, the cupcakes are even better the second day, so making them in advance would be a plus!

German Chocolate Cupcakes
source Cupcakes: Luscious bakeshop favorites from your home kitchen by Shelly Kaldunski

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 large egg, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled to room temperature

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whole milk

German Chocolate Frosting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position rack in middle of oven.  Lightly spray a standard 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  In another bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy – about 2-3 minutes.   Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  Add the melted chocolate and sour cream and beat on low speed until combined.   Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined.   Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.  Fill to about three-fourths full.   Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes.   Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes and then transfer each cupcake to a wire rack.   Completely cook, about 1 hour.

Top each cupcake with 2 tablespoons of German Chocolate Frosting.   You can also halve each cupcake horizontally and add 1 tablespoon of frosting for the middle.

Refrigerate when storing and bring to room temperature to serve.
 

German Chocolate Frosting

Makes about 3 cups

Ingredients

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Pinch of salt

Directions

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the evaporated milk, brown sugar, and butter and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the coconut, pecans and salt until combined.  Let cool to room temperature before using.