{ The Life In Cupcakes }: Dig In!! The Archaeological Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and Fondant Topper

The best part of making cupcakes is the creativity. Cupcakes are 3 square inches of an empty canvas, so make every inch count with delicious details!

We celebrated my friend Andrea's birthday a few weekends back and, of course, I jumped at the opportunity to paint some edible canvases. I really enjoyed incorporating a special part of her personality into the cupcakes: Andrea is currently in graduate school for Archaeology! So with a bit of research on the career, I got the creative juices flowing, preheated the oven, and baked away.

When asked what flavor she prefers, Andrea replied, "Chocolate, duh!". haha! So I used the Chocolate Cupcake recipe from Dede Wilson's Book, A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes and the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from the book, Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery. As usual, I often make these recipes my own by adjusting the quantities, substituting ingredients, and adding my own instruction if I choose to.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with 18 cupcake liners.
2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl; set aside.
3. In large bowl using an electric stand mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the bowl at least once.
4. Beat in vanilla extract. Beat in eggs one at a time, waiting until egg is absorbed and scrape bowl before adding additional egg.
5. Add flour mix in four additions, alternating with milk; beginning and ending with the flour mixture on low-medium speed.
6. Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, fill cupcake liners 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center shows a few moist crumbs. *Do not over bake! Chocolate cupcakes can get dry easily. I could have pulled them out a minute sooner to retain more moisture.
8. Remove from oven, cool cupcakes in pans for 5 minutes then remove and place them on cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Frosts 15-20 cupcakes

6oz (1 dry measure cup) of bittersweet chocolate, I used Ghirardelli's 60% Cacao baking chips
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablepsoon 2% milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar, sifted to remove all clumps

1. Place chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl and melt on medium for 25-30 second intervals until smooth and has a think pouring consistency. Stir well in between each interval to prevent burning the chocolate. Leave to cool slightly.
2. In a larger mixing bowl, beat butter, milk, vanilla, and confectioners' sugar until smooth. This can take several minutes.
3. Add the slightly cooled melted chocolate and beat again until thick and creamy. If it appears too runny to frost cupcakes, keep mixing as this will thicken it and improve consistency.

Step #1: Melting the chocolate chips

Step #3: Add slightly cool chocolate chips into creamed mixture until desired thickness is acheived.

Making the archaeological fondant toppers.

Because I know as much about archaeological tools as I do about rocket science, I did my homework first! I knew I wanted to do for the artifacts, but thanks to the wonders of Google, I found inspiration for the tool toppers here.

Top row from left to right: ceramic bowl and grinding tool with corn granules, stone-carved arrows, stake wire flag with flagging tape, fan brush with hand trowel, and rock pick with soil probe.