Double Chocolate Hot Cupcakes Recipe (video)
These little morsels are bound to bring a big smile to every mouth. They are rich, luscious, delightful and tantalising.
Every so often I run a test kitchen in order to reach the ultimate balance between taste, texture and appearance of various recipes. This was the case here. I experimented using different varieties of chocolate such as milk chocolate, 60% cocoa chocolate and 70% cocoa chocolate - the latter of these ticked all the boxes and satisfied my taste buds. It was dark, not too sweet and immensely rich.
You might be wondering what it means when you see X% cocoa on the packaging of the chocolate!! It is simply an indication of the actual amount of ground cocoa beans it contains, so the higher the percentage the more actual beans in contains.
I also experimented using apple sauce vs pear sauce and they both worked nicely with no impact on either the flavour or the texture. I love using apple sauce in cakes and muffins as it helps to achieve a soft and moist texture always and reduces the amount of sugar required in a recipe.
The last element I experimented with was adding the egg yolks to the batter then whisking the egg whites. I did this until soft peaks formed, then folded it gently into the batter. The result was a fluffier texture, however, for this recipe I was seeking a denser texture which I achieved instead by adding the whole eggs in at once.
These cupcakes are so yummy and deliver the perfect amount of chocolate. It is not and cupcake nor a brownie, it is just that perfect in between.
Have a crack at this recipe and send me your pictures.
Ingredients:
For the cup cakes:
- 225 grams chocolate drops or bar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 175 grams butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup ground almonds
- 1/2 cup apple sauce*
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 eggs
For the ganache:
- 1 cup chocolate drops
- ¾ cup cream
Method:
* Preheat oven to 180 C fan setting.
* Place a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water but make sure the glass bowl is not in direct contact with the water. This technique is called bain- marie.
* Melt the chocolate drops then add the brown sugar and mix well, finally add the butter cubes and stir until the butter is melted and you have a shiny and smooth batter.
* Remove the bowl from heat and add the ground almonds then the apple sauce and mix until all is combined.
* Sift in the flour and baking soda and stir until are no lumps.
* Mix in the eggs and spoon into a greased muffin tray.
* Bake for 25 minutes on the middle shelf.
* Whilst baking make the ganache by melting the chocolate in a bain -marie then adding the cream and mixing until a thick, smooth and silky sauce is achieved.
* When the cupcakes are ready serve hot topped with the chocolate ganache or ice-cream or some strawberry coulis.
Tips:
* You can use chocolate bars instead of drop but break them into a small and uniformed size.
* You can melt the chocolate in the micro wave by placing the drops or broken pieces in a glass bowl and heat it for 1 minute on medium then stir it and return it to the microwave repeating this process in 20 second intervals and mixing until it has melted.
* Make sure when melting the chocolate no water come into contact with it, not even a drop otherwise it will turn into a clump.
* Pear sauce can be substituted for apple sauce.
* For a runnier ganache add more cream.
*To make apple sauce simply peel, core and cube the apples then place them in a pan on medium heat with a sprinkle of sugar and very little water. Cook until soft then puree in a food processor.
Per Serving : 310 Calories; 22g Fat (60.2% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 120mg Cholesterol; 263mg Sodium.