We hosted a little Superbowl gathering at our home this past Sunday and I decided to make a couple different kinds of cupcakes for the dessert. I chose this recipe and the buttery cupcakes (which I will write about in a separate post).
The recipe is a bit daunting and the most complex cupcake recipe I have ever made. I honestly thought they probably wouldn't turn out. After sifting the dry ingredients you take egg yolks and mix with brown sugar and then slowly drizzle in oil as if you are making mayonnaise. I know this in itself is an art form and you have to be patient and make sure to not add the oil too fast. Once again, I am reminded that I need a KitchenAid mixer.
And then things got tricky for me... you whip up some egg whites to the point where they form soft peaks which went well and then fold them into the batter - being very careful when doing so as you don't want to deflate the whites. You fold the egg whites in 3 parts so I folded in the first 1/3 and then got distracted by my adorable 8 month old son. I came back to my whites and thought maybe they lost some of their "umph" and decided to place the beaters back in the bowl to re-whip to soft peaks. #EPICFAIL. The egg white mixture fell apart and turned back into a liquid. So... I quickly took 2 eggs out of the fridge, added the whites to the bowl with sugar, and whipped up but nothing happened! I was just beating the mixture for what felt like days. I looked back at the recipe and realized the eggs needed to be at room temperature which I had done the first time around so I took out 2 more eggs, placed them in warm water for a few minutes to bring to room temp, and then whipped up the whites again. This time they whipped up quickly and now I had to fold in the whites two more times and guesstimate approximately 2/3 of the remainder of the whites the recipe called for since I already folded in 1/3. I finished up and scooped the batter in the cups, shut the oven door, and hoped for the best.
The result: They could not have turned out better and they even look just like the picture in the book. Even though they are packed with chocolate they are not overly chocolatey (if that's even possible). I topped some with vanilla buttercream and some with chocolate flake buttercream (which was amazing and will write up in separate post since I am considering it a separate recipe). Both devils food and buttery cupcakes pictured below.
