(No Ratings Yet)These cupcakes are probably one of the most decadent, sophisticated cupcakes I’ve ever made. The intense dark chocolate paired with the tart raspberry curd plus the sweet buttercream are a combination unlike anything I’ve ever had before.
Perp
Cook
Ready In
Yield
20
Ingredients
- Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup 100% Edel-Kakao extra brut chocolate cocoa powder (or the darkest cocoa powder you can find)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 Tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 lbs powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream infused/steeped with vanilla beans
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt
- Raspberry Curd
- Dark Chocolate
- Cut dark chocolate into chunks to top each cupcake.
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth.
- Add the heavy cream, brewed coffee, and vanilla extract. Heat until just barely simmering. Remove from heat and allow to cool as you prep the other ingredients.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream and eggs.
- Slowly pour the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the egg/sour cream mixture and whisk until smooth. (NOTE: DO THIS SLOWLY! You don’t want to cook the eggs, so start pouring a very small amount of the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture…DO NOT DUMP IT IN ALL AT ONCE.)
- Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. In three parts, add the chocolate mixture to the flour. Whisk until just combined and smooth after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated. Finally, whisk batter about 20 strokes.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with batter. Bake 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
- While that is creaming, steep your heavy cream with 1 vanilla bean. (To steep: Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds and add to the cream. Whisk.)
- Bring the bean/cream to a simmer, remove from heat and cool slightly. Remove the pod.
- Add the sugar, one cup at a time, to the butter/cream cheese. Mix on high until smooth.
- Add the vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.
- Add 1/4-1/2 cup vanilla cream until you get the consistency you desire. Beat on high for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Mix in the pinch of salt.
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.
- Add the sugar, berries, egg, and salt. Heat until all the sugar has dissolved and all the berries have broken down. Stirring constantly.
- Cook at a low simmer (medium heat) for 10 minutes or until the mixture has thickened.
- Stir in the Lemoncino.
- Press the mixture through a coarse strainer sitting over a large bowl. Try to press out as much of the juice you can from the pulp and seeds of the berries.
- Pour mixture into a jar or container with a lid. Allow to cool on the counter for a few hours before covering and storing in the refrigerator. Curd will thicken as it cools.
- Keeps for about a month if kept cold.
- Core the center of each cupcake using an apple corer.
- Spoon in raspberry curd into each opening.
- Pipe frosting using a Wilton 1M tip onto each cupcake. (Use red food coloring gel in a piping bag to achieve a swirl effect, if you want!)
- Top each cupcake with a chunk of dark chocolate.
DARK CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
RASPBERRY CURD
ASSEMBLY
