Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.

Put the cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl. Add the boiling water and whisk until a smooth paste forms. Whisk in the buttermilk until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 sticks of the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then beat in the dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture.

Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the lined muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cupcakes are springy. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Off the heat, add the semisweet chocolate to the cream and let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk the melted chocolate into the cream until smooth. Let the chocolate icing stand until slightly cooled and thickened, about 15 minutes.

Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the icing, letting the excess drip back into the pan. Transfer the cupcakes to racks and let stand for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the cupcakes again and transfer them to racks.

Cupcake Baking Tips - Fill your cupcake tins 1/2 to 2/3 full. Any more and the batter will over flow and you’ll get a get a gooey mess instead of a beautiful cupcake. Any less than 1/2 full and you will get wimpy cupcakes.

- Use either paper or foil wrappers or spray the individual cupcake pan cups with a nonstick spray. If you are using the new silicone pans, wrappers or nonstick spray work fine in these also.

- Don't overmix the batter. This will cause your cupcakes to be rather chewy instead of perfectly moist.

- Bring all ingredients to room temperature before mixing your cupcake batter. The items will mix evenly, and the result will be a wonderful cupcake batter. By mixing cold items into your batter, you risk having a lumpy batter, which might cause you to overmix your batter.

- Preheat your oven to the correct temperature before you put your cupcakes in the oven. Use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is set to the right temperature. Bake only one pan of cupcakes at a time in the very center of your oven. It’s also a good idea to rotate the cupcake pan halfway through the baking time.