Chocolate cupcake with an AMAZING vanilla frosting!

Hello everyone! We are finally in May, the month of graduations and celebrations! My wonderful nanny/babysitter's son is graduating from college today! She mentions how time has absolutely flown by... I probably will blink and be going to my own children's graduations soon (I don't know if I am ready for that yet...) 
To mark such a special occasion, I thought I'd make him a cupcake treat. I asked his mom what he would like, and she said: vanilla or chocolate (he is not an adventurous eater!). Well, I had been dying to have an excuse to make this intriguing frosting recipe I saw on Pinterest. Why is it intriguing, you ask? You use FLOUR in the frosting! AND you cook it! I was skeptical at first, and I had a backup plan just in case it didn't turn out well. But, I did follow through with it since the source of the recipe I saw is none other than Ree Drummond! Oh, for step-by-step picture directions on how to make the frosting (if you like that sort of thing like me...), go to this link. 
Now, I did already have a favorite chocolate cake recipe, but figured I'd also try Ree's chocolate cake recipe that I keep seeing pop up around the internet. Plus, when I saw her make this cake on her FoodNetwork show, I had to borrow one of my children's bibs for all my drooling! If you are a visual learner like me, I recommend you check out the link for the chocolate cake to see all her amazing pictures.

And, for my "garnish": a graduation cap idea from Skip To My Lou made of miniature Reese's cups, upside-down Ghirardelli chocolate squares, brown miniature M&M's, and melted white chocolate for the tassel. Also saw this idea on Pinterest (can you tell I'm on there a lot???)

Hope you enjoy these Jacob! Congratulations on all your accomplishments!

Ree's Chocolate Cupcakes
~makes 24 cupcakes~

Cupcake ingredients:
-2 cups AP flour
-2 cups sugar
-1/4 tsp salt
-4 Tbsp (heaping) cocoa powder
-1 cup (2 sticks) butter
-1 cup boiling water
-1/2 cup buttermilk
-2 large eggs
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla extract


Cupcake directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners; set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt; set aside. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Once melted, add cocoa powder and stir well together. Add boiling water, then allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds; turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup (I used a 2-cup measuring cup), add the buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Using a fork mix all ingredients well. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into each cupcake liner about 2/3 of the way full and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Once baked, allow cupcakes to cool on wire racks before adding the frosting.

Awesome Frosting


Frosting ingredients:
-5 Tbsp AP flour
-1 cup milk
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup butter (2 sticks), lightly softened
-1 cup granulated white sugar (not powdered sugar)


Frosting directions:
In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Be careful not to burn it. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. You can place the saucepan over ice in the sink for about 10 minutes or so until the mixture cools if you are in a hurry. Stir in vanilla. This mixture must be completely cooled in order for the frosting to work.
While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat until it all combines and resembles whipped cream. Make sure you scrape down the sides every so often so that it all gets incorporated and whipped. If it's not looking like whipped cream, keep on whipping. This frosting is great for piping. Best served the same day.

-Chocolate Cupcake recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
-Frosting recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything, originally from Tasty Kitchen
-Graduation cap decoration idea from Skip To My Lou