Birthday Cupcakes

I took these cupcakes to work on my birthday last week to bribe people to come by my office to wish me happy birthday (I'm a little delinquent in posting them on account of my trip).  My cab driver seemed to think it was a little odd that I had baked cupcakes on my birthday, but I likened it to bringing cupcakes for the class in elementary school, which he thought was just hysterical.

The recipe is Martha Stewart's One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with Meringue Butter Cream frosting.  I was actually a bit worried about the cupcakes because about half of the recipe didn't come out right (literally, they didn't come out of the cupcake pan, even with the liners).  But they were outstanding--the cake was moist and chocolate-ly, and the tops of the cupcakes were slightly chewy.  And the frosting was a great complement to the chocolate cake--sweet but not too sugary.  The shaved chocolate on top added a nice extra touch of chocolate.

I had thought I was going to retire this recipe based on the problems I had baking them, but based on the RAVE reviews, I think I'll be making them again and again!