Harry Potter cupcakes

Sorry for the delay in posting this! I came down with a cold two nights ago and it has been unrelenting. In light of the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I premiere, I hosted a Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince showing on Sunday night so those with a less acute knowledge of Harry Potter than I could have a refresher on the subject matter. And of course, to accompany the movie...Harry Potter cupcakes!

I made two kinds, chocolate and chai spice. The chocolate cupcakes turned out great, if a little plain. The chai spice cupcakes were delicious! Their consistency was was a little strange. Very crumbly out of the oven, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside when cooled--possibly because the recipe called for butter instead of oil--something a little irregular for cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes
(adapted from AllRecipes' Easy Chocolate Cupcakes)

Ingredients
•10 T butter*
•1 1/4 C white sugar
•4 eggs
•1/4 t almond extract
•1 t vanilla extract
•1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
•3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
•2 t baking powder
•1/4 t salt
•3/4 cup milk**

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and almond and vanilla extracts. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl, then mix milk in, alternating pouring in dry ingredient mixture and milk until well blended.
Pour into lined cupcake pans. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Next time I make this recipe, I would also add some chocolate chips. These cupcakes were a little plain for my taste, but still moist and delicious. Make sure not to overcook them!

Chai Spice Cupcakes
(Adapted from V-Spot's Chai Cupcake recipe)

Ingredients
•1 C butter*
•1/2 C vegetable oil
•1 1/2 C white sugar
•2 eggs
•2 t vanilla extract
•1 t cinnamon
•1/4 t ginger
•1/4 t allspice
•2 1/2 t baking powder
•1/4 t salt
•2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
•1 1/4 C milk**
•2 chai tea bags or equivalent loose tea
(We used one Celestial Seasonings' Bengal Spice and one Tazo Tea Original Spiced Chai)

Directions
Preheat oven to 352˚F. Combine milk and tea in a saucepan and stir gently until almost boiling. Remove from heat, remove tea bags, and let cool.
Beat butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, spices, and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients. Add dry mixture to wet mixture, alternating pouring with tea mixture until well-blended.
Pour into lined cupcake pan and bake for about 20 minutes.

We also took these out a little early and they were VERY crumbly right out of the oven. Don't worry! See the above note--once they cool, they will turn out fine.

*Next time I make this, I may substitute half of the butter for oil or applesauce.
**I used vanilla hemp milk in both the chocolate and chai cupcakes.


Sarah and I used cream cheese frosting (store-bought, don't kill me!) to frost both kinds of cupcakes, then decorated them with a Harry Potter theme using (also store-bought) cake decorating icings.

Enjoy!