Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frostings

Whenever I think of my coworker, I think of either chocolate, caramel,  or cream cheese frosting. We celebrated her birthday last month and  I  had a hard time thinking what I can bake for her without using butter. After a lot of thinking, I know that I wanted to bake her something that I KNOW that it will taste good. So, I decided to bake a simple chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting!

Let me just briefly talk about how much I love birthdays - of course, I love my own birthday but I also enjoy celebrating other's birthday as well. The reason behind my love for this holiday is because you get to celebrate with your loved ones that you were safely able to reach a certain age and I think that's such a wonderful thing. I would say that it's a miracle. Often times, when people are older, birthdays seem like a "celebration of getting older" (more of a negative thing) but, I completely do not agree with that attitude. Regardless of what age you are turning to, I think it's such a beautiful holiday and everyone should be proud of who they are, who they've become, and be grateful toward those who raised you that reflects upon who you are. I always like to send my mom flowers on my birthday - because I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my beautiful parents (:

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 cup buttermilk replacement (1/4 cup almond milk +  Tablespoon cream of tar tar) 
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 cup hot water (or hot coffee)  - I used hot water for this one

Instructions: 

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon and whisk well. 
• In a medium bowl, mix buttermilk replacement, eggs, vanilla, and vegetable oil. 
• Mix the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. 
• Once all mixed, whisk in the hot water (you can always use 1 cup of brewed coffee as well! but since my friend doesn't like coffee, I just used plain hot water)
  **Note: the batter will be very watery, but trust me, it works!
• Pour batter in a cupcake liner (mine has 12 liners as normal one does) 
• Bake for about 20-25 minutes. 
• Insert toothpick into the cupcake to make sure that it is completely baked. 
• Cool cupcakes before begin frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 1 package of reduced fat cream cheese (8 oz) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Instructions: 

• Soften the cream cheese and mix it together with the powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract. I was able to mix it well using a whisk.
  **If you need it more thick, add more powdered sugar as needed! 

It's a birthday cupcake! You gotta have some sprinkles (: 

This basic cupcake recipe is one of my favorite! Reason being, even though I don't use butter, this cupcake is very very soft and moist. It is absolutely perfect even a day after baking it. This is not a complicated recipe at all so I am sure anyone can easily bake this and enjoy eating as well!


With that being said, thank you for stopping by, and remember that you are all beautiful!
From my kitchen to yours, Happy Baking!

Smiles,
Mei