When the Levee Breaks Chocolate Cupcakes

This is my 2nd "entry" in Iron Cupcake: Music. My sister C. just graduated from beauty school and we're all really proud of her. She said that she loved Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" and that it relaxes her. She was thinking chocolate-chocolate-chocolate - so I came up with this:

When the Levee Breaks Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour unsifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate melted *
  
• chocolate pudding
  
• chocolate graham cracker crumbs
  

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Cream butter and sugar together until light in texture. Add eggs and vanilla to creamed mixture. Beat thoroughly. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition. Add melted chocolate and beat thoroughly. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, take a knife and cut a cone out of the centre of the cupcake. Fill the hole of the cupcake with the chocolate pudding. Cut off the top of the cone and place it on top of the pudding.** Then frost with chocolate buttercream icing and top with chocolate graham cracker crumbs.

*You can also substitute cocoa + oil for chocolate - 3 T. cocoa + 1 T oil = 1 oz. chocolate. I actually prefer using cocoa - it gives it a more intense chocolate flavour.
**There is a great tutorial on filling cupcakes at Baking Bites.