Black-and-white “Magic” Cupcakes for St. Albert the Great

We’re a Dominican household: a bunch of rosary-praying nerds who can never choose between silence or blabbermouthing, so all Dominican saints, especially great ones, are cause for celebration around here. St. Albert the Great has a special place in my heart because my Dominican name is Thomas Aquinas; we all cultivate a special affection for our favorite teachers. St. Albert Magnus is also pretty special to us because Mr. Mackerelsnapper is a scientist by trade.

We used this recipe here for “Black Magic Cake.” I halved the recipe for starters, eyeing up the flour and cocoa powder so we had enough dry ingredients. Even halved, this recipe made 18 standard size cupcakes, so keep that in mind. Alors, comme ça:

They were done in 15 minutes baking at 350F. Cool before icing. The icing is just your basic Betty Crocker Cookbook White Mountain Frosting. It’s the only kind of icing that Middle Dumpling will eat these days. So between making the cupcakes, the icing, the fried rice for dinner, the NaNoWriMo-ing, and then dashing out to choir, the kitchen looked like some sort of set for a disaster movie.

Thank you, Mr. Mackerelsnapper, for remedying that situation. And believe me, it was quite a situation.

Now, you ask, why would a good Dominican mom, faithful to the Magisterium, feed her children something called “magic” cupcakes, for heaven’s sake? Because, my friends, St. Albertus Magnus was called a “magician” by those who didn’t understand science. These cupcakes are “magically” light and fluffy. How? Through the MAGIC of SCIENCE! The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda and creates essentially the same froth that you saw when you made your grade school papier mache volcano, trapping those tiny bubbles in a web of rich, chocolately goodness. St. Albert didn’t have time for magic. He learned and taught science as a way of appreciating God’s creativity.

The Dominican colors are black and white. Why? I mean besides the dog thing. Because when you have God’s light in your life, you don’t need to fear the darkness. Science is just the study of how things work, not the meaning of why they work or what they mean.

Thanks, Catholic Memes.