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For the cupcakes:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the icing:
5 egg whites at room temperature
Pinch of cream of tartar
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 lb. unsalted butter (four sticks) at room temperature; cut them into small chunks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Making the chocolate cupcake base is the easy part of this recipe. First, turn your oven to 350 degrees, then make sure you have a good mixer on hand -- it's instrumental in getting the ingredients blended together perfectly and making sure you don't end up with a lumpy mess. Unfortunately, the mixer that we own is approximately 54 years old and has the power of a gerbil wielding a string of floss, so we alternated using a wooden spoon and whisk to mix.

Mix the oil, sugar and egg together until fluffy-looking and light-colored. Beat in vanilla, salt, and baking soda until well blended. Add the whole milk (or you can use 2% if you're looking to cut calories, but when it comes to cupcakes, why would you want to do that?) and blend until smooth. Beat in the cocoa powder (we recommend sifting it first to help eliminate lumps), then the flour, which you should also sift (additionally, when measuring the flour, it's better to spoon it in to the measuring cup and level off the top rather than pack it down; you end up with too much flour that way). Finally, melt the chocolate chips and add them. You can melt them using a double-boiler, but frankly, it's much easier to put them in the microwave and zap them for 30 seconds at a time, mixing in between zapping sessions with a spoon to make sure they melt smoothly.

This should make enough batter to create 24 cupcakes. Take your pans and line them with cupcake wrappers. Sometimes we have problems with the cupcakes sticking to the wrappers, so we advise taking some Pam For Baking and quickly and lightly spraying the wrappers once they're in the pan. Fill the wrappers up about halfway with batter (we like using a ladle for maximum pouring ease) and stick 'em in the 350 oven for 18 minutes. The toothpick test should tell you when they're done.

Let them cool in the pan for five minutes before putting them on a wire rack to set, and get started on the hard part of this Baking In: the icing.

We've heard it said before that cupcakes are nothing more than a vehicle for icing, and if you believe that to be true, then you probably won't mind the labor that needs to be done to get this icing just right. After several failures in attempting the Cakelove vanilla icing, we finally figured out what to create: an Italian meringue buttercream. Unlike a regular buttercream icing, which involves a lot of confectioner's sugar, this one is subtle and not super sweet, but extremely rich and buttery, with a steady, thick texture that holds up well.

Once you've mentally prepared yourself, put a small saucepan over medium-low heat and bring sugar and 2/3 a cup water to a boil (this is 238 degrees on a candy thermometer, which will help you with this recipe). While the syrup concoction is heating up, start beating egg whites (which should be at room temperature, not just out of the fridge!) with an electric mixer at medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, and beat on medium-high speed until stiff but not too dry. This step is important -- you don't want to under- or over-beat the egg whites. You should be able to form stiff peaks, and you can tell if you have these by lifting the beaters out of the mixture; stiff peaks should stand.

With your mixer going at a medium-high speed, add the sugar-water syrup to the egg whites in a thin, steady stream, and beat for 3-5 minutes until it's cooled down. Add the chunks of butter bit by bit and make sure they're blended in smoothly; then finally, add your vanilla. And voila! You've got an Italian meringue buttercream. You should feel very important. Make sure the cupcakes are 100% cool before slathering them in pure buttery icing goodness.

Worry not; the regular Eating In will resume next week and this clumsy baker will get out of the way. But if you've got any other Baking In creations you're just dying to make, let us know in the comments.