Spooky Treat: Devil's Food Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting..

Okay, so there's really nothing spooky about these cupcakes..  but they sure are festive! Devil's food for the spook-factor, and a delicious Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese frosting in spook-tacular colors!

Make these!

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 cup boiling water
• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.

For the cupcake batter, stir the sugar, flour, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Put the cut up chocolate in a large mixing bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Let stand for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in the butter, then the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla and sour cream.

Whisk in the flour and sugar mixture in 3 separate additions, whisking until smooth after each.

Divide the batter equally among the cavities in the pans, spooning it in. Bake the cupcakes until they are well risen and feel firm when pressed in the center with a fingertip, about 20 minutes.

Cool in the pans on racks for 5 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to racks and cool completely before frosting.

Frost and decorate as desired. As you can see, I had a blast! For the frosting recipe, click here.