Double Chocolate Mocha Crunch Cupcake

Double Chocolate Mocha Crunch Cupcake ~ These are messy.  Don’t be fooled by the pretty piping. I dare you to bite into that highly stacked chocolate buttercream frosting and not get it all over your face.

Remember those Carls Jr. commercials, “If it doesn’t get all over the place it doesn’t belong in your face”? If you haven’t seen them, then I can quickly tell you, they were lame. I understand the commercial(s) were geared towards 18-28 year-old-males, well I’m assuming this, since it usually starred a hot young woman eating a messy burger in a white blouse.

Not being the target the audience for those commercials you may think that’s why it wasn’t for me. Wrong. There are plenty of commercials in which I don’t hit the demographic but I can still appreciate them. Oh, and yes, I’m a commercial buff.  I love them like people love a good show, sitcom or movie. A good commercial is like a nano story, a mini-micro short-it tells a story in under a minute.

So what’s that have to do with a chocolate cupcake. Nothing, other than I would love to see a parody of that commercial with someone like Fred Armisen in a white tank top biting into this cupcake.

A few notes:

• You may have more frosting than you need. If this is the case, Swiss Meringue Buttercream freezes extremely well and can be frozen for up to a month. To use after freezing, bring frosting back to room temperature and beat with a paddle attachment to fluff up frosting to piping consistency.
• For the chocolate pouring sauce heavy cream not heavy whipping cream.
• The chocolate cupcake portion is an Alice Medrich recipe. The adaptations I made:  I added a half cup of hot coffee in place of the hot water portions.
• As always, I highly recommend Scharffen Berger’s Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder. It’s the best on the market and will make a huge difference in your baking results in terms of flavor.

Double Chocolate Mocha Crunch Cupcake

Makes 12 Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcake recipe adapted from Alice Medrich for Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker

Makes 12 cupcakes | Preparation: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:

• 1 cup (4.5 ounces) all purpose flour
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7.3 ounces) sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1.5 ounces) SCHARFFEN BERGER Unsweetened Natural Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and warm
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon instant coffee (recommended: Starbucks Via)
• 1/2 cup hot coffee
• 1/2 cup crushed Whoppers

Chocolate Swiss Meringue:

• 5 large egg whites
• 11/2 cup sugar
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, diced and softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Chocolate Pouring Sauce

• 2/3 cups dark chocolate
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
• 4-5 tablespoons water, warm

Instructions:

Cupcake:

1. Add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly to combine. Add in the butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for one minute. Add half of the  coffee into the mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add remaining coffee. Beat for 20-30 seconds until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thin enough to pour. Divide it evenly among the lined cups. Bake 18-22 minutes just until a toothpick inserted into a few of the cupcakes comes out clean. Set the pan on a rack to cool. Frost the cupcakes when they are completely cool.

TIP: For light tender cupcakes, spoon flour and cocoa lightly into measuring cups (instead of dipping the cups into the flour or cocoa) and then sweep the measures level without tapping or shaking them.

Chocolate Swiss Meringue:
1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a bowl placed over simmering water. Bring mixture to 160 degrees F while whisking constantly.
2. Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment and beat on medium  high speed (speed 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer)until mixture cools and doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks; about 10-12 minutes.
3. Add butter in one piece at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition. The mixture may appear clumpy and almost curdled looking-this is normal. Keep mixing and it will become even and smooth again. Add salt and vanilla and mix to combine. Add cooled chocolate and mix to combine.

Chocolate Pouring Sauce:
1. Place chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl over simmering water. Let chocolate and cream sit for 2-3 minutes to melt without stirring. Then slowly stir mixture to combine. Add powdered sugar and mix to combine. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing after each addition until pouring consistency is reached. Set aside and let sauce cool to warm.

Assembly:
1. Frost cooled cupcakes. Freeze frosted cupcakes for ten minutes. Drizzle chocolate pour over chocolate frosting (reheat chocolate pour in microwave as needed to keep pouring consistency). Sprinkle crushed Whoppers on chocolate sauce. Finish with a small swirl of frosting and a Whopper.