Brownie Cupcakes

My friend Tiffany really loves chocolate. Not like in the normal I-like-chocolate-it-tastes-good kind of way. She REALLY really loves chocolate. There's no such thing as too much chocolate in her mind. So for her birthday, I decided to try out these brownie cupcakes from my cupcake cookbook (yes, I have such a thing. don't judge).

Birthday present, courtesy of Jean

The thing I like about this book is that it has different cakes and different icings, and then it tells you how to mix and match the flavors to make unique cupcakes. I chose to pair the chocolate ganche icing with the brownie cupcakes.

For the cupcakes, you need:

• 2/3 cup (4oz) unsweetened chocolate
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Now, I changed a few things. I used regular-sized dark chocolate chips because that's what I needed for the icing so I just used the rest for the cupcakes. Why buy more stuff than necessary, right? Right. I also didn't use pecans because I'm just not a fan of nuts in brownies.

First step: Preheat oven to 325 and put liners in the cupcake pan. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a saucepan, and then transfer to a large bowl. (I actually just melted mine the microwave to cut out a dirty pot.) Add the sugar, flour and vanilla, and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Lastly stir in chocolate chips. Fill the liners with batter and bake for about 20 minutes.

I made the cupcakes the night before so they had plenty of time to cool before I iced them.

Pre-iced cupcakes

On to the icing. You will need:

• 1 cup (6oz) dark chocolate
  
• 3/4 cup whipping cream

I actually had no idea what whipping cream was or where to find it. I blame it my on lactose intolerance. (Luckily, I managed to find it on my own.) So for the icing, you need to bring the whipping cream to a boil and then pour it over the chocolate. Stir until melted together. Let the icing cool until room temperature before icing. I just spooned some over each cupcake.

I guess you are supposed to let the ganache harden for a while once they are on the cupcakes, and even though I had made them a few hours before, that apparently wasn't enough time to harden. Anyway, they were still really delicious and easy to make.

And most importantly, the birthday girl loved them! :)

One very happy birthday girl