Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Hey Cupcake!

Lisa and Amanda got together last night to bake cupcakes for my birthday dinner tomorrow. I totally crashed their evening and had to sit on my hands so as not to get involved in the process (as I was forbidden to help). We enjoyed many laughs and some great red wines! :)

And, Let me just tell you... This cupcake (without frosting); it's heaven.

Flourless Chocolate-Basil Cupcake
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
4 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 packed cup fresh basil (leaves only)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F, and center a rack in your oven. Line a regular muffin tin (12 muffins) with cupcake liners. Melt the butter and the chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly. Remove as soon as mixture is smooth. Pour into large mixing bowl. Stir in vanilla and salt to combine.

Make a basil-sugar: pulse sugar and basil together in a food processor until the basil is very finely chopped and uniformly green in color.

Add basil-sugar to chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Whisk in eggs one at a time. Sift cocoa powder over mixture and combine completely (mix on low speed). Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes or until tops are just a little cracked. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer onto cooling rack.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see how these are with the buttercream frosting! It's kind of a good thing Ted wasn't a fan because that means more for us. I think Catie & Mike will like them, though. To heck with the unsophisticated palates! Heehee

Lisa <-- Baking Wino