The great things about cupcakes is they taste great, they are fun looking, and ba­sically they help with portion control. After you have just one, you should be done! Great slogan! The great thing about cup­cakes is you can take a basic one and decorate it with endless possibilities.

Today with the cupcake stands they have, you can use them as a centerpiece for your des­sert table; you can use them for kids’ parties, adult parties, or whatever. They are a true des­sert staple that will never, ever go out of fash­ion. Enjoy!

These are some of my favorite dressier cup­cake recipes.

For the Cupcakes:

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

⅓ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

¾ cup hot coffee

¾ cup bread flour ( I use regular)

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Or you can use your own chocolate cake recipe

For the Frosting:

1¼ cups granulated sugar

3 egg whites, at room temperature

¼ cup water

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Coating:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:

Make the Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a stand­ard-size muffin pan with liners. Place the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Pour the hot coffee over the mixture and whisk until smooth.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

Whisk the oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla extract into the cooled chocolate mixture until smooth. Add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

Divide the batter evenly between the muf­fin pan cups. Bake until the cupcakes are set and just firm to the touch, 17 to 19 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cupcakes from the pan and place on the wire rack to cool com­pletely, about one hour.

Make the Frosting: In the bowl of an elec­tric mixer, whisk together the sugar, egg whites, water, and cream of tartar. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and whisk until sugar is dissolved and the mix­ture reaches 160°F on an instant-read ther­mometer. Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on high speed until the frosting forms stiff peaks, about 12 to 16 minutes. Add the vanilla ex­tract and beat until combined.

Transfer the frosting to a large pastry bag fitted with a ½-inch round decorating tip. Pipe a high swirl of frosting onto the top of each cupcake. Transfer the cupcakes to a baking sheet and refrigerate while pre­paring the chocolate coating.

Make the Chocolate Coating: Combine the chocolate and oil in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering wa­ter and stir until melted and smooth. Transfer to a small, deep bowl, and cool to room tem­perature.

Holding each cupcake by its bottom, quickly dip each cupcake into the choc­olate to coat the frosting, and place on a wire rack. Let the cupcakes stand at room temperature 15 minutes, then re­frigerate for 30 minutes, uncovered. Place in a covered container and refrig­erate two additional hours before serv­ing. Cupcakes can be refrigerated for up to three days.

Savti’s Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Filling

For cupcakes:

1½ cups cake flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

By Gail Hochman