Chocolate cup cakes deluxe

Hello
Baking cup cakes is a science for itself.
Everybody has his little secret.I tried a lot of cupcake recipes with a lot of exotic frosting and ingredients.
BUT the best cup cakes are still the classic ones.
I took a basic cupcake recipe I found some years ago and I played with it.
Those cup cakes are for chocolate lovers who adore the bittersweet taste of cocoa.

You need:
150 gr Butter (room temperature)
50 gr sugar
50 gr brown sugar
200 gr all purpose flour
25 gr cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
8 tablespoons Milk
100 gr dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cognac

For the frosting:
100 gr black chocolate
100 gr dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
25-40 gr icing sugar
100 gr white sliced almonds
a pinch of salt
a few drops cognac
cinnamon


The dough is pretty easy.Just mix all the ingredients except the dark chocolate.
With a dough kneading machine it takes 2-3 min.By hand it takes like 8.
Now smash the chocolate (either with a hammer on the cutting board or in a blender),but there should be still some chunks.Mix the chocolate in the dough.
Fill the dough into paper cups or a muffin pan.
Bake the cupcakes at 180 degree Celsius for 25-35 min.You can check if the cupcakes are ready.Simply take a toothpick and stab one cupcake in the middle.
If the toothpick comes out clean,the cupcake is done.
If there is still some dough sticking to the toothpick you should add baking time.
Let the cupcakes cool.

For the frosting first you have to toast the almonds in a clean pan until they get a really light color.Add the salt,cinnamon and the icing sugar.Let the sugar melt and caramelize and stir constantly.Remove from the fire and add a few drops of cognac.
Let the almonds cool and the roughly crush them with your hands.


Melt the chocolate either in a bain-marie or in the microwave.The bain marie has a big plus.The chocolate doesn't loose it's shine.But be careful:If just one drop of water falls into the melting chocolate,you can throw it.

Coat the cup cakes with chocolate and sprinkle some almonds on top.

Huggies
Chinchillachannel258