I don’t care what the poets say about April being the cruelest month: I know they’re wrong. For bakers, the cruel month is this one, January. It’s the month when food magazine pictures go from whipped cream cakes to detox teas. A few days ago, everyone resolved to go on a diet, and now, even if your nearest and dearest will eventually eat what you’ve baked, they’ll put up a fuss before they do. It’ll all be over by Valentine’s Day, but until then — arrgh.
Because I bake for a bunch of reasons, among them that I love the process, love having homemade treats in the house and love sharing them, I bake through this “lean” season. And while I mostly just go on my merry way, baking what I want to bake, I make a concession when my dinner guests are dieters. Instead of the usual cakes, tarts or small custards, either I go for cookies, leaving it to my friends to find their own resistance level, or I make it easy on them and serve these cocoa cupcakes, one-to-a-plate treats that are (super-reasonable and) delicious in their unadorned state and (only slightly less reasonable and) even better served with yogurt.
The easiest way to describe these is to say they’re like mini devil’s food cakes. They get their deep flavor from cocoa powder. (Because almost all the fat has been removed from the dried cacao solids and nothing has been added, whatever you make with cocoa powder has a pure chocolate flavor.) The cupcakes get a touch of tang and a lot of their tenderness from buttermilk. And they get a base note of flavor from cinnamon, which loves chocolate the way milk loves cookies.
Takeaway tips
• Like confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder can clump, so even lazy bakers (like moi) have to give in and sift it. Measure, then sift or strain it into the bowl that’s holding the flour. Add the cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda, and whisk everything together to blend completely.