Overly Indulgent Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes: 12 cupcakes
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 20-25 minutes
Rating: Easy

Baking cupcakes makes me feel like June Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver. For a twenty-eight-year-old man, that's somewhat distressing. But I get over it once I start indulging myself.

10 squares (10 ounces) semisweet chocolate
1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
5 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heavy frying pan over very low heat, stirring constantly. When the chocolate is almost melted, turn off the heat and set aside to cool. The heat of the pan will melt the remaining chocolate.

Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place paper cupcake liners in a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

Put the sugar and eggs in a food processor or a large bowl. Process, or beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes on high speed until pale yellow and frothy. Add the melted chocolate mixture, and process or beat on low speed until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and pulse or beat on low speed just until blended. Do not beat the batter too much, or the cake will be tough.

Spoon the mixture evenly into each cupcake liner. The mixture will fill about two-thirds of each liner. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cupcakes are firm to the touch.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool in the pan for a few minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Put each cupcake on a small dish and dust with cocoa (see Mom Tip). Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Mom Tip
To keep the cocoa from clumping, put it in a small sieve before dusting the cupcakes with it. Hold the sieve over each cupcake and drag a spoon through the cocoa, so that it falls evenly over each one.

Buy the Book!

Chocolate on the Brain
Foolproof Recipes for Unrepentant Chocoholics
By Kevin Mills and Nancy Mills
Illustrations by Greg Clarke
Houghton Mifflin, October 2000
Paperback, 304 pages, $17.00
ISBN: 0-395-98358-4
Recipe reprinted by permission.