IT'S THE HOLIDAYS PEOPLE ! *Breathes a happy sigh of relief*.
Why relief, you ask ? Because I have spent every day of the last semester waking up at 6am, driving half an hour to college to book a parking spot then go do some work in the gym, then heading off to class till the evening. How is that different from working, you ask ? Well.. I'm not too sure myself. But I know working doesn't involve actually having to study notes and write essays and stuff. Unless, of course, you are a writer. But then again, you wouldn't have to drive anywhere - you could just work from home, right ? Oh, never mind.
Aaanyway, I am now spending my mornings more leisurely, waking up at 7am (I am an early riser. You know how people have insomnia, where they can't go to sleep ? I think I have some sort of reverse insomnia, I can't stay asleep) then going for a jog or cycle. Then I shower and watch all sorts of tv shows before happily noshing on whatever I happen to have baked (which conveniently seems to be cheesecake) rather than having to eat funny, rushed meals at funny times in between classes. Life is good.
I spend a lot of time baking too. When I'm not baking or watching tv, I'm sleeping. I don't know when I've become the sort of person that takes naps - maybe it started when I was doing my intern - but now I regularly take naps. Like, after lunch. So technically, I eat then I sleep. Wow.
But ! I'm not that bad, I swear. See, yesterday I went out with a couple of friends from highschool, for some food and a movie. Both of them were guys and only a quarter of the original group. I don't know what the other three-fourths are doing, I think they're preoccupied with exams and all that. We went to the mall and went into Carl's Jr, and me being the type of person who just cannot eat normally, proceeded to order some onion rings and waffle fries. Then I polished off the rest of the fries that one of them leftover.
Stuffed and geared up for a movie, we spent a good half hour debating what to watch, then in the end I picked The Conjuring, which was relatively new and 'one of the scariest movies of all time', according to many of my friends. There were some here and there who thought it was stupid, and one of the guys with me who had already watched it was one of the latter. I don't know what possessed me to pick that movie but after making sure he didn't mind having to rewatch it, we got our tickets and went in.
I think I spent most of the time with my hands clamped over my ears. In my defense, I was squashed between a skeptic and a group of squealy girls who squeaked every time something moved. I did watch most of the scary scenes. Hey, it was my first scary movie in the cinema after all. I admit, I was terrified during the movie, I considered staking out in the toilet until it was over but I sat through the entire thing and once I got out and went home, I felt absolutely nothing. Which surprised me since I expected to be traumatized beyond sleep but then I didn't even mind being left alone at home for the best part of the day today.
Sooo that was unexpected. You know what else was unexpected ? How much I liked the pairing of chocolate and cinnamon. It's not something new actually, chocolate and cinnamon have been put together since the Aztec times when they'd put cinnamon and chiles and spices into their hot chocolate. I haven't actually come around to doing that but I did like dunking my churros into the hot chocolate. So I made these cupcakes and then discovered that I was a little too enthusiastic when it was time to eat - I had just showered and dressed and my towel was still wrapped around my head when I was tearing the paper of them and nibbling the edges.
Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes
155g plain flour
185g sugar
20g unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
180ml lukewarm water
80ml vegetable oil
3/4 tsp white vinegar
75g finely grated semisweet chocolate
1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180C. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil cases.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarb, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Add the water, oil and vinegar, and using an electric mixer on low speed, beat until combined. Stir in the grated chocolate.
3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups, filling them about three-fourths full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a cupcake comes out clean, 24-28 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove them from the pan and cool slightly before serving.
* You could frost them if you want, the original recipe called for some chocolate buttercream, into which you whisk in 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon. I don't think these cupcakes need the frosting since they're plenty good enough on their own but if you want to take the frosted route, let them cool completely before you frost them.
