Juneteenth in the Black community historically has been a time for celebration. This special day has served as a community monument of freedom. For Black people in the US, Juneteenth has been a long standing tradition. I remember as a child going to parades, festivals, and of course celebrating with delicious dishes of food. This year marks the second year that Juneteenth has been recognized as a national holiday. Even though it took much longer than it should have, progress is still progress. What better way to keep the party going than with great music and a delicious dessert.
Not only do we celebrate the freedom of Blacks in June, but also the creativity of self expression through music. June also represents Black Music month. I must say 30 days is not nearly enough time to honor and appreciate the contributions of blacks to music. Music has always been a huge aspect of my life. I started playing piano as an adolescent. I then went on to play the clarinet, soprano and alto saxophone, which I still play. I also started writing and singing songs as a child and continue to do so currently. Music, especially Black music, has always been influential to every part of my life. I could not let this music fete or Juneteenth go on without a unique sweet.
In April while attending a music festival, I came across this stand out sweatshirt. The garment itself was quite bland, but what caught my eye was the message inscribed across the front. "Love Black people like you love Black music." The message, so simple and yet so strong, spoke to me instantly. I knew at that moment that I wanted to continue to spread the words through my culinary arts. June represented the prime opportunity to pass on the message deliciously. I used Kaleidoscope Sprinkles new Sprinkle Mix, Donut-cha No No No Good and Cosmic Shimmers to decorate my amazing musical confections. I loved how the cake and cupcakes turned out.
You can find the complete recipe for the cake/ cupcakes and decorating video below.
Makes 13" x 9" cake or 24 cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake: (adapted from Vintage Cakes Mississippi Mud Cupcakes recipe)
1 cup old brew coffee, heated
¾ cup Dutch cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ cup Greek yogurt
½ cup milk
½ cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups of chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed.
Buttercream Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt
Directions
Preheat oven 350F. Grease and flour cake pan or line cupcake tins.
In a small bowl, whisk hot coffee into the cocoa powder. Set aside and allow to cool.
In a large bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, milk, oil and vanilla extract. Add in cooled cocoa mixture.
Add wet ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients. Gently stir ingredients together until just combined. Be careful not to over mix.
Fold in crushed chocolate sandwich cookies.
Pour batter evenly into cake pan. Bake cake at 350F for 25-30 mins. (Until tester comes out clean). Allow cake to cool completely
While cake is baking make buttercream frosting.
For frosting, in a large bowl, or stand mixer, whisk butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar using mixer on low speed until frosting is smooth. Add heavy cream. Add vanilla extract. Add salt. Whisk frosting on medium-high speed until combined and frosting is light and fluffy.
Frost cake once cooled with frosting. Decorate with Sprinkles and Cosmic Shimmers (optional) .
Devour and Enjoy!