Sex and the City Cupcakes

Fair warning: this post contains content that is all kinds of girly. A miniature cupcake with a swirl of pink frosting, named after the girliest show on television... pinning it! I could go into all the trouble with anti-feminist caricatures and how the cupcake is a symbol of everything that's wrong with society, but I won't. That's not what we're here for.




I know this much for certain: Babycakes in Red Deer makes this cupcake, the Sex and the City - a chocolate cake with strawberry buttercream frosting - and it's delicious. It's become a favourite with my friend Jenna and me; I even attempted making her a full-size version for her birthday one year (it was a hot day and it didn't really turn out). And the last time we hung out before I moved to England, Jenna gave me a SatC cupcake as we said our goodbyes. There ain't nothin wrong with being girly when you have an awesome girlie to get girly with, y'know?

Sex and the City Cupcakes

à la Babycakes. Adapted from: Black Magic Cake.
Makes about 3 dozen mini cakes

Cupcakes
1 cup minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar (loose, though; don't pack it)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 eggs
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (you can't taste it at all, trust me)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla or strawberry extract
3-4 tablespoons good quality strawberry preserve
Red food colouring (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350° F (175° C), and line a mini-muffin tin with cupcake papers.

In large bowl stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt; make a well in the center. Add the egg, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed or by hand with a whisk. The batter should be thin and smooth. Fill the papers up about 2/3 full.
Bake 12-15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.Cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, whip the butter with an electric mixer for a couple minutes until super-smooth. Add a tablespoon of milk and the extract, and gradually add the sugar, mixing well. You may need to adjust the consistency of the frosting by adding more milk or more sugar, but you want it to be relatively stiff yet creamy. If you're using food colouring, beat it in now. Once you've made the buttercream, gently fold in the strawberry preserve with a spatula - don't beat it in.

Pipe it, spread it, straight-up eat it, freebase it - no judgements.