Grown Up Cupcakes: chocolate, orange & rosemary!

I love cupcakes. They are so pretty and are perfect for every occasion. Kids love them too. My friend had a brunch wedding and she served fancy, little cupcakes with silver dragee on top from Magnolia Bakery in NYC. They were a pretty treat to serve the guests & each person got a little package of their own at their place card!



We had dinner guests this weekend, and for dessert, I baked chocolate orange cupcakes with fresh rosemary! They were excellent! The three ingredients really worked well together. I added the rosemary as an after thought, because fresh rosemary goes well with lemon or any citrus.
I usually make this recipe as a basic chocolate cake with orange glaze, but instead I put the batter into little paper holders and baked them in muffin tins.

Chocolate Orange Rosemary Cupcakes

~1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
~1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
~3 large eggs
~ 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
~ 1 teaspoon vanilla
~ 2 cups all-purpose flour
~ 3/4 cup Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa
~ 1 teaspoon baking powder
~ 1 teaspoon baking soda
~ 1/4 teaspoon salt
~ 1 cup milk
~3/4 cup sour cream
~zest of an orange
~Orange Marmalade for the glaze

1. In a bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and brown sugar until blended. Beat in eggs. Add melted chocolate and vanilla; beat until combined.

2. In another bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, mix milk and sour cream & add orange zest.

3. Add flour mixture and milk mixture alternately to butter mixture, about a third of each at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated (batter will be very thick).

Pour into paper lined muffin tins about 3/4 way up and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
When the muffins are still hot, smear orange marmalade over tops, and place a fresh rosemary skewer in each top. I refrigerate them until ready to serve, this sets the orange glaze.

These are very grown up cupcakes! Enjoy!