Red Currant Chocolate Cupcakes

Yields 18 cupcakes.

• Prep time: 15min
• Cook time: 25min
• Total time: 40min
• Difficulty: Basic

These cupcakes are beautifully moist and light, with a wonderful chocolate flavor. The intensity of chocolate is balanced out with tart red currants, but you could use raspberries or blueberries instead. The recipe uses hot strong coffee which really boosts the chocolate flavor. Instead of coffee, you could use hot water.

For the red currant chocolate cupcakes.

Ingredients:

• 110g all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 50g cocoa powder
• 160g sugar
• 1 egg
• 120ml buttermilk
• 60g butter, melted
• 1 tsp dark rum
• 120ml hot coffee
• 60g red currants

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line two muffin tins with paper liners.
In the bowl of your standing mixer, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. Add egg, buttermilk, melted butter and rum and beat until smooth. Stir in hot coffee with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very runny.
Pour the batter into a large measuring cup and divide it among prepared muffin cups. Fill each liner no more than two-thirds full (or else batter will rise over and make a big mess). Top with a few red currant berries and bake 20-25 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.

For the chocolate ganache.

Ingredients:

• 150g chopped dark chocolate
• 150ml heavy cream
• red currants to garnish

Directions:

Place the chopped chocolate in a heat resistant bowl and set aside. In a small, heavy bottomed saucepan, bring heavy cream just to a boil and remove from heat. Pour over chocolate pieces and let this sit for a few minutes. Using a whisk, gently stir the mixture until combined. You should get a thick and smooth ganache. Allow it to cool about 5-10 minutes and then frost the cupcakes. Garnish with some red currants and serve at room temperature.

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Commentary.

Category: Muffins & cupcakes

I can’t believe it’s already been two years. They say time flies when you’re having fun, and I can honestly say I had a lot of fun baking, cooking, experimenting, photographing, writing and sharing my recipes and stories with you over the past two years.

Launching BakeNoir.com marked a fresh start in my blogging career. A lot has happened since then. I’d like to think I have grown, not only as a baker and photographer, but also as a person. I became a mother last year. It was an experience that helped me see the world in a completely new light. Although I don’t have as much time for writing anymore, without this blog I would be incomplete. BakeNoir keeps me sane and helps me recharge my batteries after dealing with sleepless nights and challenges of motherhood.

BakeNoir is my canvas, a place where I can unleash all my creativity, do what I love and make peace with the world. This blog is a reflection of me and that’s everything I ever wanted it to be. It is something I’m incredibly proud of, and I hope it will inspire my baby girl to follow her heart and do what she loves, too. So, happy blogoversary BakeNoir!

Although I absolutely loved the original design and layout of BakeNoir, I felt it was time to update it a bit. Even the prettiest things tend to become a bit boring after a while. Subtle changes can sometimes make a huge difference, so I decided to freshen things up a bit. The original design was quite simple, but I wanted to go even further and give it a really fresh and clean new look. On top of that, I’ve opted for a responsive design to provide optimal viewing experience for all readers, regardless of the device they are using. This means easy reading and navigation on all sorts of devices – from mobile phones and tablets to desktop computer monitors.

Let’s talk about some good old features here on BakeNoir that you might have forgotten about. On the top right side of each recipe there are some useful icons. When you’ve found a recipe you love, you can download it in PDF format. You can also add a recipe to Pouch for later viewing (the first icon from the left). Add as many recipes as you like and they will be waiting for you there until you decide to remove them. For recipes stored in Pouch you can generate single PDF files or download all recipes at once in PDF format. Pouch is cookie based and tied to a single computer or mobile device. That means, if you delete cookies, you’ll lose Pouch contents. The third icon takes you to the Recipe Index where you can browse through all recipes. If you like or don’t like a particular recipe, you can rate it by giving it 1 to 5 stars.

To make your cooking and baking life easier, there’s a handy kitchen conversions chart in the ‘tools’ section. It covers all basic kitchen equivalents, including length and oven temperature equivalents. You can also download the conversions chart in PDF format.

Those were some old and some new news. It’s now officially cupcake time! These are not just any chocolate cupcakes. Oh, no! They’re probably the best chocolate cupcakes I’ve made. Ever. Incredibly moist and and light, with a great chocolate flavor boosted with some strong hot coffee. The intense chocolate flavor is interrupted by tart red currants which create a beautiful balance, making the whole eating experience surreal. Smooth and silky dark chocolate ganache ties the two together and takes the cupcakes to a whole new level.

Thank you!