Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream

I should have called them DINOCUPCAKES!! Just because it's an awesome name, the sprinkles are called dinosaursprinkles and because the colours are kinda cool, but I thought this boring name would be more descriptive and thus better!



I would like to call these cupcakes low budget, "Ive got nothing in the house for something complicated" and easy. I think I'm actually right! Barely any ingredients are needed, then again, they're just cupcakes. And in a few steps you've got yourself some lovely chocolate mixture, which is yummy to eat by itself but you still have to bake it.
I really love these simple things from time to time. Not having to spend much time and thought on a recipe and still creating something delicious. It's wonderful! At some point I bought silicone baking cups and they give the cupcakes such a colourful effect!





Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (unsalted) butter, softened
115 gram caster sugar
2 eggs
85 gram self-rising flour
25 gram cacao

1. Mix the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy.
2. Beat the eggs lightly and add this two the butter-mixture in several (3-5) additions. As long as it's not in one go it'll be fine!
3. Sift the flour and cacao, adding a bit each time to the butter-mixture and mixing well between each addition.
4. Spoon the mixture into baking cups and put them in a preheated oven of 175 degrees Celius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit and leave them for about 15-20 minutes. If the cakes look dry and risen and a pin comes out dry, they're done as well.

For the photo's, apart from the basic - with very bad lighting - I tried doing some refreshing angles. I think some pictures turned out pretty cool!!





You might've been wondering how to make such a deliciously looking creme as well! Cupcakes alone are awesome, but the decorations just make it a real treat! The buttercream is also fairly easy to make.. It also stays good for quite a long while! It doesnt 'melt' like whipped cream does, but stays in the same shape for a long while and it doesn't loose any of it's taste!

Ingredients:
5 eggs
175 gram sugar
250 gram butter
vanilla essence (or any other food flavouring or -colouring)

1. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer until very stiff. About 1-2 minutes.
2. Add a few spoons of sugar and mix again. Add the sugar in multiple additions and mix well in between every addition, or gradually add the sugar while mixing.
3. Double-boil the mixture and mix again every once in a while, until the mixture is thick and creamy. (I left this out on my first try and while it went fine, I wouldn't recommend it!)
4. In a separate bowl mix the butter until thick and creamy. Then add the vanilla essence, or anything else you've chosen, and mix this in well.
5. Add the egg-mixture to the butter in a few additions, starting with a few spoons, and mix this in well. When everything is fully mixed, you have your own colourful buttercream!

I coloured my buttercream in the colours my sprinkles were, to give it a better effect. Although everyone initially thought they were awkward colours. The buttercream was gone in no time! Some of it never reached the cakes!