heart of darkness

This is my favorite cupcake. It's fast and easy and vegan, but that's not why. It's chocolate, obviously, but it's not too heavy, perhaps because of the lack of butter, milk and eggs. I got the recipe from a Moosewood Restaurant cookbook, which actually cites a 1976 issue of "House and Garden" as the original source. It's a cake recipe, but works just as well to make about 12 to 16 cupcakes. Plain, it's a really light, subtle cake. With the chocolate glaze: delicious!

Six-Minute Chocolate Cake (or cupcakes)
Source: Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day

1-1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water or brewed coffee
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp vinegar

Preheat the oven to 375-degrees.
Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar.
In a 2-cup measuring cup, measure and mix the oil, water (or coffee), and vanilla. Slowly and gently pour the liquid ingredients into the baking pan and mix the batter with a fork or a small whisk.
When the batter is smooth, add the vinegar and stir quickly. There will be pale swirls (and some bubbling) in the batter where the baking soda and vinegar are reacting.
Stir just until the vinegar is evenly distributed throughout the batter (the color becomes more consistent throughout), then spoon into waiting lined cupcake tins.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes--testing with a toothpick. Remove to a cooling rack and make glaze.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE
1/4 lb bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup hot water, milk or half-and-half
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate in a small ovenproof bowl in the oven for about 10 minutes.
Stir the hot liquid and the vanilla into the chocolate until smooth.
Spoon the glaze over the cooled cupcakes, though I find it easier to dip and twist the cooled cupcakes into the glaze.
Refrigerate the glazed cupcakes for about 30 minutes before serving.