Chocolate Cupcakes

With my crazy work schedule, it's ridiculous how little I actually see my family, considering I still live at home. There are weeks (evening shifts especially) when I only see them on the weekends and that's really unfortunate because my family is really important to me. I thought saturday would be a great day to correct the situation and have a "family day".

I started my day by making breakfast for my family and a walk with my dog.

Then my brother and I decided to bake some cupcakes. I found this recipe for chocolate cupcakes using Daim chocolate (one of my favorites) from this great baking blog called Kinuskikissa, so we decided to try it out. We also made carrot cupcakes. Heres the recipe for the chocolate cupcakes:

Daim Cupcakes (makes about 15 cupcakes)                                     

• 200 g Daim chocolate (or which ever you prefer)
• 150 g butter
• 1 ½ dl sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 ½ dl flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 ½ tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 ½ dl milk or cream

Chocolate Frosting 

• 120 g unsweetened chocolate
• 150 g butter (room temperature)
• 150 g confectioners sugar (sifted)
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat the butter and the sugar together to form a light mixture.

2. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

3. In another bowl mix the dry ingredients.

4. Grate 100 g of the chocolate.

5. Combine the wet & the dry ingredients.

6. Add the grated chocolate into the mixture.

7. Put a spoonful of the mixture into the muffin pan. Put a piece of chocolate in the midde and then top off with more dough.

8. Bake in 225 celsius (430 fahrenheit) for 12-15 minutes.

9. To make the frosting, melt the chocolate in a bowl placed in a saucepan of hot water. Let cool to room temperature.

10. In a bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add in vanilla & chocolate. Beat until smooth.

Later on we went to watch the movie Hugo. I've heard so many good things about it so I had to go see it.  The movie is based on a book and it's about a orphan boy that lives in a clock tower in Paris. After he's father passes away he tries to solve his mystery. The movie was really interesting and I loved the way it had been shot, the scenes were really beautiful. I can recommend it to everyone. 

With my little brother Veikko

-Suvi