Waaay overdue for a post. So I made cupcakes for you.

Well, kind of. I took pictures of them. I made a hot cocoa cake (sounds fancy, right?) with a blueberry cream cheese filling, with a butter/cream cheese frosting topped with fresh blueberries. I love these, they have a little bit of everything. Not too heavy chocolate, some creamy fruit, and a great vanilla frosting. 

First, I made the blueberry filling. I took 6 oz. fresh berries, covered them with sugar, and let heat do the work:

Then, I added a couple tablespoons of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water, and let it bubble with the mix. You can mash the berries as they are cooking to let the juices out. You do not need to add any other water.

 It turned into a funny blob of blueberries. Then I mixed in 4 oz. of cream cheese to it to make a filling.

Ahh, then these beauties. You can use any chocolate cake mixture. I was out of cocoa, so what did I use? Hot chocolate. And cut down on the sugar. Recipe's at the bottom for these beauties.

Then using whatever cupcake-filler tool you have, put the filling in the cake. I couldn't find mine, so i simply cut a hole out with a knife, filled it, and put the cake top back on after I cut off excess cake.

Top with some yummy homemade cream cheese and butter frosting...

Put them in a cute box, add some blueberries, and voila! Everyone now thinks you bought these fancy-shmancy cupcakes somewere. Nope. Made right here in my 5x5 kitchen. At least it feels that small.

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes:

1/4 c ghirardelli double chocolate hot cocoa mix

3 T hot water

1 c + 2 T unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking sodea

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp princess cake and cookie emulsion (available at most TJ Maxx, Ross, Orson Gygi, or any specialty cooking store) 

2/3 c buttermilk (any fat content)

*Preheat oven to 325*

1. In a small bowl, combine hot cocoa and water. This will bring out the chocolate flavor and it should look like a syrup.

2. Combine dry ingredients, set aside.

3. Beat the butter and sugar about 1 minute or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat in individually. Mix in the vanilla and emulsion (If you have it. it's not critical.)

4.Mix in the cocoa, then add half of the flour mixture. Add the remaining buttermilk and flour, adding each individually.

I baked these at 325* since my oven is circa 1968. It took a bit longer that way, about 20 minutes, but it helped the bottoms not to burn. Just bake 12 minutes and watch carefully. If you touch the top and it lightly springs back, you're good. If it collapses, you'll prrrrrrobably need more time.

P.S. I bake in my underwear sometimes so it's a completely appropriate post.