Black Beauty Cupcakes

I know cupcakes are a big deal in the US. However, I have never really liked then, as they are usually boring.  Overly sweet cake mixes are topped with even sweeter frosting. These babies however are totally different!!

Rich chocolate flavor in a slightly dense chocolate cake  is topped with a velvety bittersweet ganache. This is how a cupcake should taste!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes
½ cup of Dutch-processed cocoa powder, divided
1 ½ cups of all purpose flour, divided
1 cup of hot water
1 cup of superfine sugar (I used regular white sugar)
1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt
¾ cup of mayonnaise

Ganache
1 ⅓ cups heavy cream
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips) finely chopped
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, at room temperature

Preparation:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

Place foil cupcake liners in tins. (I like foil because they have a better weight than paper.) If you choose to make the cupcakes liner free, then butter the insides of 12 muffin cups. Sift together 2 tablespoons of the cocoa and 2 tablespoons of the flour. Dust the insides of the molds with this mixture and tap out the excess.
Combine cocoa powder and the hot water in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer. Whisk to dissolve the cocoa. Whisk in the sugar. Attach the bowl to the mixer and fix with the paddle attachment. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. With the mixer on low speed, in thirds, add the flour mixture, alternating with two equal additions of the mayonnaise, and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until the batter is smooth. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and fill 3/4 full.

Bake until a cake tester inserted in a cake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Gently remove the cakes onto the rack and let cool completely.

To make the ganache, bring the heavy cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Let stand for 3 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Add the butter, whisking until it has totally melted into the chocolate. Transfer to a bowl and let cool on a wire rack until the ganache thickens to a glaze consistency and the cupcakes can be dipped or allow it to become thicker and frost the cupcakes.