Cocoa Pink Cuplets

Welcome to the first guest recipe! Cocoa Pink Cuplets is a recipe that has been around my family for as long as I can remember. According to the recipe card I have, the recipe comes from a woman named Kathy. But when I questioned my mother and grandmother, nobody has any idea who Kathy is. I got it from my grandmother.

Cocoa Pink Cuplets is officially a cupcake recipe, but you can also make it in a bar, which is how I did it today since I quickly learned that I had 5 cupcake wrappers. Yeah, not enough to make cupcakes. So I made it into bars today!

The other big thing to note about this recipe: it calls for shortening. If you haven't noticed earlier, I rarely use shortening. In fact, I was quite surprised a week or two ago when I found out that I had a container of shortening in my cupboard. I was a lot less surprised today when I pulled the can down and found out it hadn't been opened. I'm not a big fan of shortening, having learned all the bad stuff it can do to you. My mother and grandmother will tell you that shortening makes baked goods softer, which is true and why I didn't change it. This recipe is in the original form except for two things: 1. I used more chocolate chips than it called for. 2. I skipped the walnuts because we didn't have any. Now you know.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cold water
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Tools:
Medium bowl
Spoon
Large bowl
Mixer
Liquid Measuring Cup
Spatula
9x13 pan OR cupcake pan

What's the first rule at A Year of Baking? PREHEAT THE OVEN! This time, go for 350.

Mix together the flour, cocoa powder and salt in the medium bowl.

Set this aside, you'll need it later on.

Next, pull out your mixed and put the sugar and shortening in the large bowl. Mix well, so it begins to cream together.

Yup, it looks like that. Blend the eggs and vanilla into the sugar mixture.

That looks much creamier than the last picture, doesn't it? Next combine the water with the baking soda. I did this in the liquid measuring cup, keeping my number of dishes to wash down slightly.

Add the water and flour mixture to the sugar mixture, but do it slowly and alternate between the water and flour. See the picture below for what it should look like.

Grease and flour your 9x13 pan or add your cupcake liners to your cupcake pan. Pour your batter into the pan or cupcake slots. You will probably need to spread the batter if you use the 9x13 pan, spoon it in if you make cupcakes.

Doesn't it look nice? Now, add the chocolate chips and walnuts to the top. I added an entire bag of chocolate chips, which is approximately 2 cups, but I suggest going with the original 1 cup. I didn't have walnuts, so no nuts here, but please add them since they do taste good.

Bake this lovely thing. If you are doing cupcakes, bake them for 20 to 25 minutes. If you are doing a pan, go with 25 to 30 minutes. Here's the finished product:

 There you go, Cocoa Pink Cuplets (no, I don't know why they have the word pink in them. That's just the name, OK?)

"Cliff Notes"

2 cups flour                     1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cocoa powder     1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt                         1 cup cold water
1 cup sugar                     1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup shortening           1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 eggs

1. Mix flour, cocoa and salt, set aside
2. Mix sugar and shortening.
3. Blend in eggs and vanilla to sugar and shortening
4. Combine cold water and baking soda
5. Alternate the water and flour mix to the sugar mixture
6. Grease the pan or add cupcake liners and add the batter
7. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and walnuts
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes for cupcakes or 25 to 30 minutes for pans