BACK to black

My laptop is back in working order. And let me fucking tellllll you. I have got a treat for you!

Black.

Velvet.

Cupcakes.

*S C R E A M I N G*

Ok. So I kind of formulated my own recipe for this one based off of a few recipes and my experience with making red velvet. I went for an all black theme here and got some black cupcake wrappers, black gel color (Thanks Rochelle!) and black cocoa (Thanks Rochelle and Carol! haha) Never heard of black cocoa before? YOU GON LEARN TODAY!

Before I give you this magical recipe, let's talk cocoa. Black cocoa. They are not all equal. I ended up with 2 bags, 2 diff brands. King Arthur and The cocoa trader (amazon). So the king arthur was more fragrant and had a stronger cocoa flavor. But the cocoa trader brand.....IS BLACK! Black cocoa turns dark and super black after you mix it and it has time to sit in open air for a few. But if you are looking for a daaaaaark black go with the cocoa trader. Here's a pic of the 2 next to each other while making the buttercream.

The choice is yours. May the odds be ever in your favor.

But here's what you need!

For the cupcakes:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• 3 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp

• 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

• 3/4 cups granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs, room temp

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon black food color (more if you also have anxiety and think it's not dark enough)

• 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temp

• 1 1/2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

• 3/4 teaspoons baking soda

For the buttercream:

• 1 cup salted butter

• 4 cups powdered sugar

• 3/4 cup black cocoa

• 3-6 tblsp. whole milk

• 2 tsp. vanilla

To make the cupcakes:

Pay attention.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt together. Set aside.

3. In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, oil, and sugar together until light and fluffy.

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after adding each egg.

5. Beat in the vanilla and the black food color. Add more black food color as needed. The mixture should look mostly very dark grey. The color will deepen and intensify during baking.

6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then half of the buttermilk. Add another 1/3 of the flour, then the remaining buttermilk followed by the last 1/3 of the flour. Mix until just combined.

7. Quickly, but carefully, mix together the vinegar and baking soda. The mixture will bubble up a lot.

8. Pour the baking soda mixture into your batter and stir in well for 10 seconds.

This mixture should be dark grey. The color will intensify while they bake.

9. Evenly divide the batter among the cupcake liners.

10. Bake the cupcakes for 15 - 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it when inserted in the middle.

11. Let the cupcakes rest in the tin for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

So dark they look burnt. They are not <3

Buttercream is easy. Make this while your cupcakes are baking.

1. Beat butter in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add black cocoa and powdered sugar and begin to mix. Add 3 tablespoons whole milk and beat until smooth. Add additional 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until it reaches desired thickness. Mix in vanilla

I used a large open star tip to pipe my frosting onto these bad bitches (bc honestly....boys suck lol). I also went a step further and used black sanding sugar on top for extra visual texture.

Voila! Ohhh my precious evil little heart.