The Journey To Find The Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes

Michele and I have been doing this whole "baking thing" for about six months now! And in that time we have only found a few absolute, without a doubt, go to cupcake recipes! The pumpkin and strawberry are about the only ones. At least we have two! But we still have a long ways to go with many, many more flavors to tackle. At this point chocolate and vanilla are our main culprits. With these two being the most common flavors that people want to order, there is a little more pressure to find that one amazing recipe.

For the past few months we have been focusing on chocolate. Between the two of us we have tried countless chocolate cupcake recipes. We have had a few failures, a few so-so, and a few that are do-able. It seems like there is always one part that just isn't quite up to par. Usually the downfalls are either not chocolaty enough or doesn't rise into a nice dome. And the most frustrating part is that the recipes we have tried have usually been deemed "the best chocolate cupcake." Not sure if we just have too high of standards or what the deal is.

Today I tried a chocolate cupcake that I found on Pink Parsley. It caught my eye last week when it was listed on the site as one of the most popular posts of 2010. I clicked on the link and the very first words were, "Not to be dramatic, but the search is over. These are quite possibly the most perfect cupcakes ever." And to top it all off it is a recipe from Cook's Illustrated!! A very reputable source.

Well here they are....



And the verdict is: Not overly impressed. They were a little dry, not chocolaty enough, and just didn't have that "wow factor." What a let down.

The journey continues. Dang it. I am so ready to move onto a new flavor, like pina colada or margarita or something a little more fun and exciting.

Luckily I have found another chocolate cupcake recipe that I want to try. It is from Barefoot Contessa, who I absolutely love! And the source that I found them on gave them 4.5/5 stars. Oh please let these be the magic ones.