It’s National Chocolate Cupcake Day

                                                                                      Courtesy Irishcentral.com

It’s National Chocolate Cupcake Day. What are you doing to celebrate?

“Good Morning America” has a ton of delicious chocolate cupcake recipes you can make for friends and family. Perfect for birthdays, bake sales, or just curbing your chocolate fix, these recipes are sure to bring a little sunshine to your day.

Here are a few tips on how to make your cupcakes look more like the ones at the bakery:

1.  Consistency is key:  Pipe batter into muffin cups or scoop batter using an ice cream scoop to create equal sized cupcakes.

2.  Don’t over mix:  Over mixing the batter causes a much more dense, tougher cupcake.  Mix the batter until it is just incorporated to guarantee a lighter, fluffier result.

3.  Baking is a science:  Don’t estimate a cup of flour, measure it. The more consistent and exact you are in following a recipe, the better the cupcake.

4.  Cool off:  There’s no bigger mess that trying to frost a hot cupcake with cool icing.  Let the cupcakes cool completely and then pipe or use a spatula to frost them with your favorite icing.

5.  Use high-quality ingredients:  If you can afford it, go for better quality ingredients.  High-quality baking chocolate or using vanilla beans in your icing creates a much more flavorful product.

Here’s a few of our favorite recipes to try at home:

Guinness and Bailey Irish Cupcakes

Hungry Girl’s Chocolate Marshmallow Madness Cupcakes

Wolfgang’s Decadent Warm Chocolate Cupcakes With Molten Centers

Cat’s Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes

Enjoy!