Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

1 and 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup shortening (I used 125 grams butter)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used imitation vanilla essence)
1/2 cup boiling water

First I mixed all the dry ingredients together in my blender.
Then I added all the rest of the ingredients except for the boiling water.
I mixed this up until it got really sticky and started to form a dough in the blender.
Then I added the boiling water and blended it into the dough for about one and a half to two minutes. Until it was a lovely silky texture.
I poured mixture into the cupcake papers about halfway up the sides. These were the smaller ones. Larger cupcakes I filled near to the top of the cupcake papers.
Bake at 180C or 350F for twelve to 18 minutes depending on how much you filled them, and how big the papers are.

Chocolate Icing

1 cup chocolate chips or drops
2 tablespoons butter

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a small metal bowl or pot iside another pot with hot water in the bottom. Mix well. Make sure none of the water gets into the chocolate mixture. Spread liberally on the cooled cupcakes. Enjoy!