During last year’s birthday month, I was given several cupcake cookbooks with the ulterior motive that I would make cupcakes for their respective gift givers

This decadent experiment comes from an adorable little book called Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans.  What’s so fascinating here is the book is 139 pages of distinctly unique cupcakes, but all are based on just two simple cake recipes and three simple frostings/glazes/fillings.  Each subsequent recipe are variations on these basics (adding nuts, extracts, fruits, etc.)

The Fudge Marble Cupcakes start out simply as Elinor’s Easy-Mix Yellow Cupcake Batter and the Chocolate Fudge Glaze.

Verdict: The batter tastes significantly better than any boxed yellow cake mix out there.   4/5 cupcakes for the cake.  The book is adorable and includes an exclamation point in the title.  5/5 cupcakes for the book.

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Fudge Marble Cupcakes

Makes 12 regular cupcakes.
Cupcake Making: 20 minutes
Cupcake Baking: 350F for about 23 minutes

Easy-Mix Yellow Cupcake Batter

Chocolate Fudge Glaze

CUPCAKES
Easy-Mix Yellow Cupcake Batter for 12 regular cupcakes still in the mixing bowl, 1/2 cup Chocolate Fudge Glaze, at a pourable consistency.

FROSTING
3/4 cup Chocolate Fudge Glaze, at room temperature

One batch of Chocolate Fudge does double-cupcake duty here.  Swirls of the warm glaze marble the cupcakes and then a layer of the glaze, cooled and thickened, frosts the top.  The chocolate glaze is poured over the cupcake batter, but not mixed into it.  The liquid glaze combines so easily with the batter that if the glaze and batter were stirred together, the cupcakes would become all chocolate rather than marbleized.

Make the cupcakes.  Position a rack in the middle of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Spoon 3/4 of the cupcake batter into a small bowl and set aside.  Spoon the 1/2 cup chocolate glaze over the top of the batter in the large bowl; do not stir the glaze into the batter.  Using a large spoon, scoop up both yellow batter and chocolate glaze for each cupcake and fill each paper liner with about 3 tablespoons.  Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the reserved plain batter on top of each.  The batter will be about 1/2 inch below the top of the liner.

Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 23 minutes.  Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.

Use a small knife to loosen any tops that might have stuck to the top of the pan.  Carefully place the wire rack on top of the cupcakes in their pan.  Protecting your hands with hot pot holders and holding the pan and rack together, invert them to release the cupcakes onto the wire rack.  Turn the cupcakes top side up to cool completely.

Frost the cupcakes.  Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the chocolate glaze evenly over each cooled cupcake.

The cupcakes can be covered and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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