Butterfly Chocolate Cupcakes

The other day I was in charge of making dessert for a dinner we were having at a friend's house. Of course I wanted to make something complicated. Here enters Pinterest :) I had been wanting to make these chocolate butterflies for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, the instructions specifically said "use almond bark. Do NOT use chocolate chips, they will not hold the shape." Well the store didn't have almond bark and really how bad could chocolate chips be? Lesson learned: when it says don't use chocolate chips, don't use chocolate chips. They turned out fine, but not great. They still tasted fantastic though! Recipe at the bottom, as always.

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 2/3 C Flour

1 1/2 C Sugar

1/2 C Cocoa

1 1/2 t Baking Soda

1 t Salt

1/2 t Baking Powder

2 Eggs

1/2 C Shortening (I used butter)

1 1/2 C Buttermilk (or sour milk)

1 t Vanilla Extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, shortening, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix for 3 minutes. Fill the muffin cups 1/2 full. I actually filled mine a little more than that, about 2/3rds full, because I wanted a little poof top to the cupcakes. Bake 18-20 minutes or until the cupcake bounces back when you touch it. 

Mocha Frosting 

Warning: This is the best frosting I have ever had in my entire life. You will be addicted.

1 Stick Butter

1/2 C Cocoa

1/3 C Milk

1 t Vanilla

1 T Instant Coffee

2 2/3 C Powdered Sugar

Butterfly Toppers:

Melt your almond bark in a double boiler. You can put the melted chocolate in a cake decorating bag or a ziplock bag, just make sure the tip you are piping out of is big enough to create a thick piping line. Pipe the chocolate flat onto wax paper using a pattern. If you trace the pattern onto the paper instead of just placing it behind the paper make sure to flip the wax paper over. You don't want to eat sharpie! ;) After you pipe the butterfly put the wax paper on an open book and chill it in the fridge until firm. Enjoy!