Coffee Chocolate Sour Cream Cupcakes, Part 2
Well, really, is there any reason to stand on ceremony here? If you missed the cupcakes themselves, they're here. This is the hymn to a frosting that's like a silky chocolate mousse.
Have I said enough?
Once the cupcakes have cooled to room temperature, melt another 1/4 pound unsweetened chocolate in the top half of a double boiler set over about an inch of simmering water--or in a large bowl set over a saucepan with about the same amount of simmering water. For the best results, stir over the heat until about half the chocolate has melted, then remove the top half of the double boiler or the bowl from the heat and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted.
One note: escaping steam can condense into the chocolate, causing it to "seize" as it melts--in other words, to break into little threads with a thin liquid all around. The best two tips to avoiding this dire problem are 1) to make sure the top half of the double boiler or the make-shift bowl fits securely over the pan below to trap the steam down there and 2) to keep the simmer very low, just a few bubbles at a time. If the chocolate does seize, you might be able to stir a tablespoon or two of heavy (or whipping) cream into the mixture over the heat to get it back to its smooth state. Or you might have to begin again. Candy-making is nothing if not an exercise in patience. If not frustration. And melting chocolate is foundational to candy-making.
Next, whip up all these things in a large blender: 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup milk, 3 tablespoons powdered nonfat dry milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Keep whirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Want to know the best news? You can even use fat-free sour cream and fat-free milk in this recipe. Don't have to. But you can.
Scrape everything in the blender's canister into a large, clean bowl, then stir in the melted chocolate until smooth. After that, begin stirring in confectioners' sugar (aka powdered sugar or icing sugar) in 1/2-cup increments. You'll end up adding 2 to 3 cups before you've got a silky, smooth icing, depending on the day's ambient humidity and the residual moisture in some of the other ingredients. Don't go too far and add too much--you can always add a little more.
Set the mixture aside at room temperature for about 5 minutes, just to make sure it firms up. Then frost the cupcakes.
As you can see in the top picture, Bruce used a fancy pastry bag fitted with a fluted tip. Ah, well. I'd use a knife for a more rustic approach. (Perhaps that's why I'm the writer in this duo.)
Store these cupcakes at room temperature in a sealed container for a couple days. In the fridge, they get a little stale and the icing becomes too hard, losing its ridiculous texture.
That's about it. Except one other thing. I was on Connecticut Style last week making deviled eggs. I thought you might like to see. (Despite the fact that I get the whole ph thing wrong. Yes, you add baking soda to RAISE the ph of the water, not drop it. You'd never know I was once a chemistry major in college.) So here goes. (And if you can't see it below, click here.)
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 11:17AM | in Cake, Chocolate, Desserts, Fabulously Empty Calories
Reader Comments (4)
so here's the thing: i'm a bit miffed about the powdered sugar. how sweet is this frosting? i mean, this looks extremely good, but generally i don't go for anything that calls for cups of sugar... 3 cups is a lot for 16 cupcakes. i made a dobos torte a while back, and used very good chocolate for the buttercream - but when i was done adding all the sugar, all you could taste was sweet, and i find it very annoying when the sugar hijacks the other ingredients... i love the sour cream and the powdered milk in there, and i really wish there was a way to circumvent the powdered sugar. perhaps gelatine? you say the texture is mousse-like, do you think that would work? thanks for putting up with all my nay-saying!!
if there's a link or a video window to the delived eggs story, i can't see it.
Hmmm. The video clip is there on my screen. Will check it out.
As to the sugar, well, I don't know. I know how Bruce made it. I know it was delicious. I know the sour cream RAISED the ph a bit so that the flavors of the chocolate really came through. I know it was sweet. I know I ate several at once. I know, I know, I know. I think gelatin would make the whole thing too slippery.
I like a person who gets miffed at recipes! Hardly nay-saying. Instead, an important remark, to be honest. All sugars--and all foods like this, even while consummately real--are empty calories. No questions asked. They are fun and delicious, but are not essential for anything but a smile at the table. Your miffedness is well placed and well heeded.
That said, the icing's darn fine.
M.
I was lucky to sample one of these at one of Bruce's knitting classes. It was remarkably decadent without tasting overly sweet. I am surprised the frosting calls for this much sugar -- would never have guessed from tasting. Hands down, the best chocolate cupcake ever!
I, for one, love love love a good sweet. I am a real food believer to the core; I truly believe in eating real meat, real veg, in cooking from scratch. I love my tamworths and goats and roadkill deer, and could write poems about my love of farm-fresh eggs. BUT... I also love to have a slice of birthday cake with family, or a coke in a bottle (from Mexico, made with sugar) with pizza, or homemade ice cream in July. These foods aren't my every day, but they are an absolute pleasure. For me, eating is about so much more than just putting fuel into my body. It is about ritual and communion and celebration and sharing and love. I'm a survivor of obesity and eating disorders. I could out-diet anyone. But now that I've come to my place of balance, I refuse to get caught up in obsession or puritanical ethics. The vast majority of the time, I eat close to the source. But sometimes, it is a fantastic and magical thing to let my taste buds and brain and heart swirl with the pleasure of a sweet indulgence. It's good for the soul; and what is good for the soul translates to the body.