I've never been a believer in the Cupcake. I've always thought them too plain and unfanciful to warrant bragging rights. Second or third to the Chocolate Chip Cookie or Brownie, to me cupcakes were the grade-school snack. They were part of the baked goods repertoire, for after athletic games or in-class birthday parties. Yellow cake and butter cream, Chocolate cake and butter cream, tasteless (but pretty) sprinkles...nothing sophisticated about them. Even when I made the Brown Butter Cupcakes with Brown Butter Glaze, I was still skeptical. Sure these cupcakes tasted good and were not the traditional elementary school cupcake, but I remained unmoved of my opinion (also probably because they did not turn out as expected). But boy, these Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting have made a believer out of me! By the way, it's said that choc. chip cookies are Sesame Street's Cookie Monster's fave type of cookie, it seems natural that this would be his favorite cupcake.
As you may already know by now, Jess, of Chubb and I have teamed up to tackle as many of the cupcakes in the February issue of Martha Stewart Living as possible, she (Jess) being the enabler of this endeavor and supreme lover of all things cupcake. Be sure to check out her blog entry as well as her great photos, which get published on appetite-inducing Taste Spotting
So, on to Choc. Chip Cupcakes with Choc. Chip Frosting. This recipe was different from other cupcake recipes for a couple of reasons. First, it called for nonself-rising cake flour versus your standard all-purpose kind or even self-rising cake flour. To those that may not know, cake flour has a low protein content, is finely milled, and is starchy thus contributing to a lighter, fluffier cake. Secondly, the recipe called for egg whites (versus whole eggs), which weren't added until after the dry ingredients. Further the egg whites were beaten to stiff peaks before being folded in. Where the recipe called for milk, I used buttermilk. I'm not sure if this made a difference in the overall product but it did not seem to detract from the overall texture. The cupcakes baked gracefully, with just enough rise while emitting its decadent aroma of doneness.
With the second batch in, I turned to the frosting: Butter Cream. NOT a huge fan at all. But still, I gave it a go. To the basic butter cream recipe, choc. chips were added at the end. Jess and I both agree that next time we would either chop up the chips or use mini chips. Plan to do so if you will be piping your frosting onto the cakes.
Overall: My first bite of the frosted cupcake was surreal, completely catching me by surprise. For a minute, I forgot that I did not care for cupcakes. It seemed as if I was partaking in a cupcake ceremony. First, I tasted the buttercream frosting, its immense sugar and butter sweetness slightly offset by a subtle semi-sweet choc. chip bitterness. Just before it became overpowering and achingly sweet, I felt the cake: light, fluffy and smooth. The combination provided a manageable cupcake that literally made me stop all I was doing to just savor its taste, texture, imploring me to feel out its flavors. NO LIE. Perhaps it was the skeptic in me looking for something to dislike that I tried to dissect the cupcake with my tastebuds. It truly was the right amount of sweet with cake. If anything, I liken it to a chocolate chip cookie AND choc chip cookie dough.
BOTTOM LINE: This cupcake would serve as a good flip-flopper - great for the grade-schoolers and adult enough for a luncheon among friends. Would definitely make again. Certain to attract comments from those who try them if not for the overall flavor, definitely for the cake.
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