This cupcake is not for the faint of heart. These are for the chocolate lovers. The chocolate obsessed. I originally came across this cupcake on the blog The Cupcake Project, and I thought…I have to make that. Two days later, my friend Kim/the bride-to-be requested chocolate cupcakes for her bachelorette. Bingo. I realize now that I didn’t actually use any of the recipes from The Cupcake Project, but she still deserves the credit for the idea. Here’s the breakdown of “Better Than Sex”- Chocolate cupcake filled with chocolate mousse, chocolate fudge frosting drizzled with white chocolate. Drooling yet? Reaching for your insulin? Good.
I had bought these high heel cupcake wrappers ages ago and have been dying to use them, and since Kim and I share a passion for high heels and shoes in general I figured this was the perfect time to bust them out.
If there wasn’t enough chocolate going on already- I decided to throw in some mini-chocolate chips as well as some white chocolate/chocolate swirled chips. Oh yeah. My kitchen looked like a war zone after I had finished- but that’s okay. There’s a lot of steps involved here, so this probably shouldn’t be your first baking endeavor. But the end product is SOOOO worth it.
Chocolate Cupcake (makes ~30)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 3/4 cup hot water
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream, room temp
- 1 cup mini-chocolate chips (optional)
Preheat oven to 350* and line cupcake pan. Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low, stirring to combine. Remove from heat, pour into mixing bowl and mix on medium until cool. Add eggs one at a time, then beat in vanilla. Add in the cocoa mixture. Reduce speed and add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the sour cream (starting and ending with the flour mixture). Fill cups about 2/3 full, and bake for ~20 minutes.
Chocolate Mousse Filling (this I found at All Recipes)
- 8 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup water, divided
- 2 Tbsp. butter (no substitutes)
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 1/4 cups whipping cream, whipped
In a microwave or double boiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. Cool for 10 minutes. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees F, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5-10 minutes. Fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (or shortening)
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup cocoa
- 1/3 c. milk
- 1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted
Cream butter, then mix in corn syrup, salt, and vanilla. Add in cocoa. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, alternating with the milk. You can add more milk for a thinner consistency.
Bake, fill, frost, drizzle, devour. I ALMOST went with my standby chocolate ganache filling due to time restraints, but luckily I talked some sense into myself and went for the chocolate mousse. Chocolate mousse happens to be one of my favorites (give me chocolate mousse cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and I am yours), but I had never actually made it myself. Now I know why I haven’t made it before…I would eat it all without sharing. If you want to treat yourself, trust me- this is what you want!
The Sassy Apron 
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