Adventures in . . . Disaster

This week I made Mexican "hot" chocolate cupcakes, which I found in an article from the Chicago Tribune (Aug. 15, 2007). The recipe comes from Stephanie Samuels of Angel Food Bakery (never heard of it, but okay). I love mexican hot chocolate, so I thought I'd give the recipe a whirl.

I should have seen the warning signs. A mexican hot chocolate cupcake recipe that doesn't call for actual mexican chocolate? That's odd. A chocolate ganache that you add corn syrup to? corn syrup? That's gross. Plus, melting chocolate in the microwave? really? And then there were the bigger, glaring signs that I somehow ignored: a recipe that calls for 3 cups flour, 3 cups sugar, an entire container of sour cream, and yet says it yields only 18 cupcakes? Now that is just a lie. And for the final problem with this recipe: it said to bake the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes on 325 degrees. This is very strange, since almost all cupcakes bake on 350 for 20-24 minutes. And I did not want molten chocolate cakes--I wanted cupcakes.

Despite all the warning signs that there was something wrong with this recipe, I tried it anyway. It turned out okay. The big problem is the number of cupcakes it makes--I made 24 overflowing muffiny ones plus 24 minis (all of which sank) plus had a few cups of cupcake batter left (it was enough already). This recipe needs to be chopped in half, first of all. I baked them at 325 for what ended up being, oh, 30 minutes, and even then the toothpick never came out clean. Okay, so maybe these cupcakes aren't the kind that you can test that way. Either way, I would suggest hitting the temperature up to 350 and cooking for at least 20 minutes, unless you want something that more closely resembles soup.

Then I don't know what to say about the frostings. Definitely ditch the chocolate ganache recipe and use a standard one. Plus I just think making 2 frostings and piling them on top of each other is total overkill. On the one hand, these cupcakes were sort of gross. On the other hand, they were sort of gross in a good way . . . .

Well here's the recipe, most of which I wouldn't follow:

Mexican "hot" Chocolate Cupcakes

Get a mug of hot coffee (need 1 ½ C). Heat oven to 325. Line muffin tins.

In a microwave-safe bowl, put:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 ½ sticks butter
Heat in microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring between intervals, about 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine in a large bowl:
3 C sugar
3 eggs
Beat with mixer on low speed.
Slowly beat in chocolate-butter mixture. Stir in sour cream; set aside.

Combine in a medium bowl:
3 C flour
1 ½ t baking powder
1 ½ t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
¾ t salt

Okay, now it's time to put it all together. Beat in dry ingredients alternately with the 1 ½ C coffee to the chocolate mixture—dry/coffee/dry/coffee/dry.

Fill tins ¾ full; bake 15-18 minutes.

Frosting:
Beat 2 sticks butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
Beat in 1 box (1 lb) confectioners' sugar and 2 t cinnamon until smooth. Beat in 1 t vanilla and set aside.
[I forgot to mention this in my earlier rant, but this frosting recipe is missing a key ingredient--anything to make this not just a huge lump of unmoveable frosting. I added a few tablespoons of whipping cream, since I had it on hand for the chocolate glaze anyway. It was still too thick to spread, so you have to pipe it.]

Spicy Chocolate Glaze:
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 8 oz bittersweet chocolate and ½ C whipping cream.
Heat in 30-second intervals until chocolate has just melted, about 2 minutes.
Whisk in:
2 T unsalted butter
1 T corn syrup
1/8 t ground red pepper
1/8 t cinnamon

Let glaze cool slightly. Spread frosting on cupcakes. Dip tops into glaze. Refrigerate to set, about 30 minutes (I never put cupcakes in the refrigerator; it screws up the consistency.)