Is this really an Easy Cupcake Cookbook?

December 15th will be National Cupcake Day so I'm looking at this cookbook a bit early to give you all a chance to check it out in case you want to get a bit fancier with your cupcakes for the holidays. I know that COVID-19 is just tossing all of our normal holidays plans into the air, but I also know that many of us are cooking for family or to send out gifts of food, too. So let's check out Jesseca Hallows' The Deliciously Easy Cupcake Cookbook and see if we can get any chocolatey ideas for the holidays or other occasions you have coming up. I was sent a free copy of this cookbook from the publisher, Rockridge Press, in the hopes that I would put up an honest review on a couple of online booksellers; this article on The Chocolate Cult is a bonus for them.

The first thing I want to say is that basic cupcakes -- tiny cakes with frosting -- are delicious on their own. Is anything beyond that really "easy" by comparison? 

Second, this being The Chocolate Cult, we are concerned about how many of the 75 recipes using chocolate in some form. I counted 39 unique recipes using chocolate, cocoa, or a chocolatey ingredient in them such as crumbled chocolate cookies. The fifth chapter, "Stylish Sweets", is almost entirely reusing earlier recipes with a bit of additional ingredients, directions, or an add-on recipe; the pages for the earlier recipes are listed which helps you find them.

Speaking of chapters, this is how the table of contents is laid out in this cookbook. What do you think about that?

The recipes are laid out in an easy to decipher fashion as you can see in the next photo. Title at the top, Along the left hand side we have notes about the time needed, amount of cupcakes made, and any substitution tips. The bulk of the recipe is on 1-2 pages. First the ingredients then a numbered list of instructions. Yes, the instructions are easy to follow if you have a basic knowledge of baking and cupcake making.

Several of the recipes are for frosting, ganaches, dip, or fillings. Only the main recipe is listed by name in each chapter's table of contents but you can find the others in a well-labeled index in the back of the book. There are 75 of these main recipes not counting the frostings that are within the main recipes especially chapter 2 "Go-To Recipes."

I really liked this cookbook. It was a lot of great ideas in one place plus you get more than the promised 75 recipes!

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