Triple Chocolate Molten Cupcakes

They're baaaaack.

Cupcakes.

I made three different batches of cupcakes today.  Somebody stop me!

Name that movie.

 I made two attempts to create this little guy.

 The original recipe I tried was a bust.  The cupcakes baked up all beautiful as I spied on them using the oven light - then WHAM!  A minute before the buzzer went off, they all fell in the middle.  Completely caved in.

 I cried.  Not really, but I could have.  But have no fear, these delicious morsels totally make up for it.  If chocolate were a drug, this would be the finest cocaine ever.  Nice, huh?

You're so strange.

 The cake portion of this cupcake is a little different.  But still tasty.  The frosting is amazing.  Cream cheese and chocolate - who knew?  Then you cut into the cupcake with a fork (or bite it, if you're into that) and the chocolate volcano erupts and divine chocolate lava goes everywhere (which is why I would eat this with a fork...but I guess you don't know that until you've already bitten it, eh?).

 If I wouldn't feel the need to run 45 miles afterwards, I would have eaten the entire pan of frosted cupcakes.  By myself.

 I made the cupcakes last night, then woke up early to make the frosting.  A quick 5 second zap in the microwave was enough to cause the eruption of Mount Chocolate Heaven.

 On a side note, I busted out the ol' macro lens for the hour of food photography I did today.  I forgot how awesome that lens is!  It may be my new go-to for cupcake imagery.

Imagery.  What a weird word.  I probably didn't even use it correctly.  Meh.

 I'm experiencing the sudden, uncontrollable urge to sneak down to the kitchen to warm up one of these cupcakes right now.  Lordy.

This was a first for me, by the way.  I didn't follow any one recipe to a T when making these cupcakes. Since the original recipe didn't work out, I found a different filled chocolate cupcake recipe in my new Cupcake book from Williams Sonoma.  I made a few alterations to that recipe, and also decided to use the original recipe's frosting.  I mixed and matched, all by myself!  

Triple Chocolate Molten Cupcakes

3 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

4 tbsp butter, cut into pieces

3 eggs, separated, room temperature

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

pinch salt

1/4 cup sugar

12 chocolate truffles 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

12 oz cream cheese, cold

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/4 oz milk chocolate, melted and cooled

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 375°F

Place semisweet chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl; heat in microwave at 15 second intervals, stirring frequently, until melted.  Let mixture cool slightly. 

Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture until well combined, about 30 seconds.  Add the flour and whisk until combined.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites and salt on medium-high speed until foamy.  Slowly add the sugar and beat continuously until soft peaks form.  Using a whisk, gently fold a third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten.  Fold in the egg white mixture in 2 more additions until no white streaks remain. 

Divide the batter among the liners, filling each about 2/3 full.  Bake for 10 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Using a kitchen shears, cut an “x” into the tops of each cupcake (about 1/2 inch deep); insert a truffle into the center of each until flush with top of cupcake. Allow cupcakes to cool before frosting. 

To make frosting, beat cream cheese in the bowl of stand mixer until smooth.  Add in vanilla.  Slowly add powdered sugar with mixer on low speed until combined.  Add cocoa powder and increase the speed to mix.  Add melted chocolate.  If frosting is too thick to pipe, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.  

Frost cupcakes.  Top with chocolate sprinkles, shaved chocolate, chocolate bars, etc.  

There you have it!

I'm taking the remains of today's bake-fest to the pharmacy tomorrow for the weekend crew.  Otherwise Wilberforce might find me in a dark closet, hoarding the pan of cupcakes with chocolate smeared on my face.

Not that something like that has ever happened before.