A Small Celebration

Sometimes I don't have time to make a whole birthday cake with frosting and decorations. It's when your birthday falls on a Tuesday or Wednesday that this often happens. We're not close enough to the previous weekend that I could have made the cake ahead of time and I can't quite justify putting my homework off til the next weekend yet. Darn.

So I convince myself that your special day is worth me getting up 25 minutes earlier to bake you a very individual gift. It's a gift that will be consumed quickly, and hopefully, won't be repeated, because next year you'll have the common sense to put your birthday on a Monday like normal people do. But, if you are so unfortunate as to have a second birthday in the middle of the week, I think that this particular cake will not be too much of a hardship to endure twice.

Honestly, it's the perfect amount because you can share with your friend or just eat them both without feeling terribly guilty at all--it's your birthday after all, and no one expects you to share.

Spiced Chocolate Cupcakes

adapted from 

Makes 2.

Originally, this recipe was "baked" in the microwave. I, personally, never use this approach, and since, at the time, I didn't have silicone baking cups, I would have exploded the house using metal tins, I decided to bake them until a toothpick inserted yielded a clean tip.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 ½ teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 4 ½ teaspoons milk
• 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ½ egg (approximately 2 tablespoons), lightly beaten
• Whipped cream, to frost
• Sprinkles, to decorate

Instructions:

1) Whisk flour, brown sugar and spices in a small bowl. Mix in milk, butter and egg. 

2) Divide evenly between two muffin liners, either in a tin or the silicone variety. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. 

3) Check it and then continue cooking if a toothpick inserted comes out with wet batter.

4) Top with whipped cream and sprinkles, if desired.