Dark Chocolate and Ghostly Meringue Cupcakes
Makes 24 mini cupcakes INGREDIENTS Meringue Ghosts
4 large egg whites, room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
¼ cup mini chocolate chips
Cupcakes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract 2 ounces sour cream
Chocolate Ganache
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped 8 ounces heavy cream
DIRECTIONS
To make the ghosts: Heat oven to 200degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place egg whites in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until foamy.
Add cream of tartar and continue whisking until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar a bit at at time, letting it incorporate as you continue whisking. The meringue should become stiff and glossy. When it holds stiff peaks, stop. Scoop meringue into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe dollops of meringue onto the baking sheet. To keep the ghosts as vertical as possible, hold the bag vertically a little bit above the sheet, instead of holding it close. Let the meringue flow out of the bag onto the sheet instead of pushing it onto the sheet and flattening the mound. Add chocolate chip eyes by pushing in gently.
Place in oven and bake for 60to 70 minutes, until the meringues are dry and firm to the touch and are just starting to color.
Turn off oven and let meringues stay inside overnight to finish drying out. To make the cupcakes, increase oven to 350degrees. Line a 24-cup mini muffin pan with baking-cup liners. Combine butter and chocolate in medium heatproof bowl. Set bowl over saucepan containing barely simmering water; heat mixture until butter and chocolate start to melt. Add cocoa and whisk until smooth and fully combined. Set aside to cool until just warm to the touch.
Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl to combine.
Whisk egg, sugar and vanilla in a separate medium bowl until fully incorporated.
Add cooled chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk until combined.
Sift about one-third of flour mixture over chocolate mixture and whisk until combined; whisk in sour cream until combined; then sift in remaining flour mixture and whisk batter until it is smooth and thick. Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Bake until skewer inserted into center of cupcakes comes out clean, 11to 13minutes. Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack. To make the ganache, place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Place cream in a medium saucepan and bring just to a boil on the stove over medium-high heat. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for a minute. Slowly whisk the mixture until the chocolate is fully melted and combined.
Let ganache sit for about an hour, until it has cooled and thickened enough to pipe. You can also place in refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
To finish the cupcakes, fill a piping bag fitted with a large (½-inch or larger) round tip with the ganache. Pipe over the tops of the cupcakes. Place a meringue on top of each cupcake. Serve.