Football Playoff Cupcakes

Wow. Who would have ever thought that I would be making cupcakes for a football playoff viewing get together? I really hate football. I find it a stupid boring sport with very little athleticism involved. To top off my hatred, I really can't stand their playoff system. There is no way you can truly determine the best in the NFL in so few games! Oh well, that's why I don't watch it. This time, I will, but only because Glenn accepted an invitation from a coworker of his who invited us over. I'll get over it.

I wasn't sure what kind of cupcakes I was going to make, but Glenn suggested I decorate them to look like a field, with green frosting (grass) and white lines (the yard lines). I thought it sounded like a good idea. Then I wanted to put a football of some sort on them. Since I don't have a mini football cookie cutter we went to the baking supply store to find something. We searched and searched in there and came up empty handed. It looked as though they'd been cleaned out in anticipation. Feeling defeated, I got in line to pay. Then, of course, I glance over and notice a rather large display with all the football crap. Ugh. I grabbed some sugar footballs and was on my way.

I finally decided on German Chocolate cupcakes. This decision was based mostly on the fact that I planned on enjoying these, and I wanted a different kind of chocolate this time. I've made German Chocolate cupcakes before, for my Baseball Cupcakes World Series actually, and I LOVED them. I thought I just used the recipe on the box of the German Chocolate baking bar. I did not. That explains why I didn't remember beating egg whites separately and then adding them later. Aside from the shrinkage that always happens when I fold in egg whites (why is that?) they still taste wonderful. I just love the smooth sweet flavor of the German Chocolate. Yum. This is the recipe I followed this time. For the other recipe, that in my opinion produced better cupcakes, go here.

German Chocolate Cupcakes
yield 16 cupcakes

2 oz Baker's German's Chocolate (1/2 pkg)
1/4 C water
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 pinches salt
1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
1 C sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 16 standard sized muffin cups with liners. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a medium to large sized bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Microwave the water and chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Add vanilla and chocolate/water to the creamed mixture. Gradually add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually fold in to chocolate batter. Fill tins 2/3 full and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.