Chocolate Souffle Cupcakes Recipe

How to make it

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• Get the white chocolate mint cream ready for later:
• Place the white chocolate in a small bowl.
• Bring the cream to a simmer, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute to melt the chocolate.
• Whisk well.
• Add the peppermint extract and whisk again.
• Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the cream.
• Chill until very cold, about two hours.
• Make cupcakes:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Line 9 standard-size (3-ounce) muffin cups with paper liners.
• Stir chocolate, butter and espresso powder together in heavy medium saucepan over low heat mostly melted, then remove from the heat and whisk until it is fully melted and smooth.
• Cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.
• Using electric mixer (a hand mixer, rather than a stand mixer, actually works best here because the volumes are so small) beat egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl until mixture is very thick and pale, about 2 minutes.
• Briefly beat lukewarm chocolate mixture, then vanilla extract, into yolk mixture.
• Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in another medium bowl until soft peaks form.
• Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and all of the salt, beating until medium-firm peaks form.
• Fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions.
• Divide batter among prepared cups, filling each three-fourths of the way. (You might find, as I did, that you had enough leftover for a extra half-cake. That’s your “taste tester”. It’s a, uh, very important part of the process.)
• Bake cakes until tops are puffed and dry to the touch (some may crack, embrace it) and a tester inserted into the centers comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool in pan on a cooling rack, where the cupcakes will almost immediately start to fall.
• It will be all the better to put your mint cream on them.
• Finish your masterpiece:
• Beat mint white chocolate cream with electric beaters until soft peaks form.
• Remove cupcakes from pan, arrange on a platter.
• Fill each sunken top with a healthy dollop of white chocolate mint cream.
• Top with shaved dark chocolate, if you’re feeling fancy.