The Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes....Oh the Decadence!

My family has been battling the stomach flu this week. I haven’t felt like cooking or eating much at all. After being sick, I really wanted, no needed , something good to eat, something good being something chocolate. After all I needed nourishment. Besides I am pretty sure my recent health kick of no chocolate, no soda , no French fries, etc is the reason I got sick in the first place. Cutting out all that made my body go into shock and hurt my immune system of this I am convinced. So I needed to make something that would rejuvenate me and make me like food again. While lying on my sick couch I was watching an episode of the Barefoot Contessa and when she started making these, I just knew I would have to make them too.

I looked the recipe up online and got a little scared of the reviews. They were so varied, ranging from 5 star excellent to 1 star, a few reviewers actually called them “disgusting”. This was scary to me, I mean I have never had a disgusting cupcake. Even the cupcakes that are old and crusty or have that fake confetti frosting from the grocery store bakery are still kind of good……but being a lover of all things ganache, I decided to try these out, hoping that the 1 star reviewers were wrong…..and they were! These cupcakes turned out great! They were dense and chocolaty almost more like a brownie. The perfect treat that I needed after a week lacking in the food department but full of baby puke; not to mention the 2 hours spent Friday morning trying to fix my computer with the Dell technician over in India. After frustrating communication breakdowns, my computer is finally fixed and I am thinking these cupcakes are well deserved.

Makes 12 Cupcakes or 1 8-inch Cake

1/4 # Unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Cup sugar
4 Extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 (16 oz) can chocolate syrup (recommended: Hershey's)
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 Cup all-purpose flour
½ Tsp instant coffee or espresso powder

For Ganache:
1/2 Cup heavy cream
8 oz Semisweet chocolate chips
¼ tsp Instant coffee powder

Line muffin pans with 12 paper liners. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Do all of this on low. Don't overbeat, or the cupcakes will be tough. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups, fill to almost full because these cupcakes don’t rise very much .Bake for 30 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let the cupcakes cool thoroughly in the pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water (or you can just do it a small pot like I did, just pay close attention to it!) until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Dip the top of each cupcake in the ganache. Need I say more? Go eat them!!

There will be extra ganache leftover so save it to dip some fresh fruit in!