Williams Sonoma Chocolate Cupcakes with Sour Cream Fudge Frosting

Went to lunch Thurs with Corrine. The food was good, not great. Salad and flat bread pizza. Ho Hum. I thought maybe the desserts would be better. Hmm. Not impressed with dessert either. Why? I think when you pay $5-8 for a dessert, it should knock your socks off! Or at least leave an impression (good one) that makes you want to go back for more. Ordered two desserts. No comment. All I can say is : we gave the place a fair chance. I'll give it another try (bc I really wanted to love it and unless I really dislike a restaurant, I always give it two chances). At least the company was great :)

About a year ago, I started carrying a bar of dark chocolate in my purse, for uh, emergencies. You know. When you need something sweet after a meal, and that little voice tells you "do not order dessert, the main dish wasn't impressive". Thurs-Didn't listen to the voice. Oh well.
Last week I tried these cupcakes, from a Williams Sonoma Baking book. Yummy. Side note: I have tried DOZENS of choc cupcake recipes. This is the one. The keeper. Deep chocolate flavor. Moist. Lick the batter off the spoon kind of yummy. Too bad I didn't have one of these in my purse yesterday...

Chocolate Cupcakes with Sour Cream Fudge Frosting
adapted from Williams Sonoma"BAKING" Best of Kitchen Library

printable recipe

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa*
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cups of a standard muffin pan with paper liners.
Sift the flour into a large bowl, stir in the sugar, baking soda and salt.
In a heavy saucepan over medium high heat combine the milk, butter and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in the flour mixture, until combined smooth. Whisk in the egg and vanilla until blended.
Spoon equal amounts (a little less than 1/4 cup per cupcake) into lined pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool.
Frosting:

Prepare frosting by combining butter and cream in a small saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until butter is melted. Whisk in chopped chocolate. Continue whisking until smooth. Remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the sour cream, and then the powdered sugar. Let stand until thick enough to spread. If too thick, heat briefly and whisk again.

Tips:
-I used Saco brand recommended by Laurie. It is a blend of natural and Dutch processed cocoa.
-I added two tablespoons of flour (for a total of 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) to adjust for our high altitude.

-The original recipe calls for granulated white sugar, but I like the dark brown sugar instead.

-The recipe only makes 11-12 cupcakes, double this, you'll be glad you did.

-The "frosting" is really like a ganache ( melted chocolate and cream) but a little powdered sugar, sour cream and butter added. It's a little tricky:

1. One frosting recipe really is enough for a double recipe of the cupcakes.

2. When you mix up the ganache, the cupcakes need to be frosted within a few minutes of the frosting cooling. Otherwise it will be too thick to spread.

3. I think it would work better with only about two tablespoons of butter. It was a little on the oily side for me. When the ganache sets up, it's hard. Not hard like a rock, but more like a coating on the outside of a dipped chocolate.

4. Make sure to whip the frosting well to incorporate all of the butter and the sugar.

5. I did go back and re heat the chocolate after it had hardened, and it melted up fine and spread with an even more pleasing result- this is when I added the extra 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.

6. I used Bittersweet Giradelli chocolate chips, which may have been part of the problem in not achieving a perfect result. Next time I'll use their bittersweet baking bars.

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