Fudge Cupcakes with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Something amazing happened last week.

I finally found my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

It has half bread flour?! and half plain. I was a bit sceptical, but I went with it.

They were abso-effing-lutely delicious and the whole family loved them.

Definitely making them again, recipe to come in the next couple of weeks!

In other news, we still don’t know what’s wrong with Poppy and neither do the vets 🙁 She had to have a biopsy on Friday and we should get the results tonight, so we are crossing everything that it’s something easily treatable. She seems happy enough, definitely still eating like she’s never seen food before…

Still has her cone… getting used to it though. Now I think she quite likes it as she can barge into things and just knock things out of the way. She can also still barge into us to get our attention, which I’m sure she loves.

Onto these cupcakes. Did you know it’s national cupcake week? I thought I’d contribute these beauties. They are richly fudgey with a (not so, now) secret ingredient. I decided to pair them with a tangy chocolate sour cream frosting. This really worked, you got that rich fudge taste then a lighter frosting with a sour cream tang. Definitely a winning combination 🙂

I found this recipe in a book I’m reading. OK, I have to admit this now. I’m totally addicted to Murder Mysteries that revolve around people who own bakeries. They are amazing, you get a story and then at the end of the chapter a recipe!! I now have my kindle and a notebook permanently stuck to my side so that I can write down the recipes.

Anyway since making these fudge cupcakes, I’ve read somewhere that there was a typo in the recipe. Well actually now I know what it is everything makes sense and it wasn’t a typo, it was the difference between cookies and cakes pretty much, which to me is a bit more than a typo.

I did think it incredibly odd that a cupcake recipe called for all bicarb, so I changed it to baking powder. Guess what, I was right. The typo was it said bicarb not baking powder.

Moral of the story, follow your gut instincts. It’s a cupcake recipe, it needs baking powder.

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Makes 18-20

Recipe from Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Ingredients for the cupcakes:

> 4oz dark chocolate
> 1/4 cup caster sugar
> 1/2 cup raspberry syrup (this is the secret ingredient, does give them a little something, the type of syrup you use for pancakes or ice cream topping. I used Askeys Raspberry syrup)
> 1 stick (113g) butter/marg
> 1 1/2 cups caster sugar (this isn’t a mistake, you need 1 3/4 cups in total, but you use them at different stages)
> 3 eggs
> 1 2/3 cup plain flour
> 1 1/2tsp baking powder
> 1/3 cup milk

For the Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes)

> 4 cups icing sugar
> 1/2 cup cocoa
> 12oz cream cheese (I used philly, full fat of course)
> 1 1/2 sticks (about 170g) butter
> 18oz dark chocolate
> 1 1/2 cups sour cream
> Fudge pieces for garnish (optional)

This will make quite a bit of frosting. Enough to pipe all of the cupcakes with a bit left over. I knew that halving it would not be enough to frost 20 cupcakes. If you’re spooning the frosting on you won’t need this much. However, I haven’t tried adapting this recipe to a smaller amount so can’t tell you if it works.

Method:

> Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350F. Line two cupcake trays with 18-20 cupcake cases.
> Place the chocolate, 1/4 cup of sugar and raspberry syrup in a heatproof bowl.

> Either place above a simmering saucepan of water or place in the microwave. Heat in 20-30 second increments, stirring between heating until melted and combined. Leave to one side to cool.
> Place the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.
> Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
> Add the eggs and mix until well combined and smooth.
> Add in the milk, flour and baking powder.
> Mix until well incorporated and smooth.

> Add in the melted chocolate.
> Mix until well combined and smooth.

> Leave the mixture for 5 minutes and then stir it briefly. Split the batter between the cupcake cases, about 3/4 full.
> Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
> Try to remove the cupcake cases from the tray as soon as possible, as I always say, yes they’ll be hot, but believe me it stops the cupcake cases peeling away from the cake.
> Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

> At first I was a bit worried about the appearance as they look a bit like brownies, but I tried one and they tasted damn fine 🙂
> To make the frosting: Place the chocolate in a heat proof bowl and place in the microwave for 20-30 second increments, stirring in between heating until melted.
> Place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer.
> Cream together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
> Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa.
> Mix on slow to begin with so you don’t get a dust cloud. Once the mixture is coming together, turn the speed up to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy. Add in the sour cream.
> Mix until well combined. Fill a piping bag halfway full and then pipe the cupcakes. I used a large star nozzle.

> Sprinkle some pieces of fudge on top of the cupcakes if you want and serve 🙂