⅓cupchocolate chips or chopped chocolatemilk or dark
⅓cupcocoa powder
¾cuphot water
1 ½tspinstant espresso
¾cupall-purpose flour
¾cupgranulated sugar
½tspsalt
½tspbaking soda
⅓cupvegetable oil
2eggsroom temperature
1tspwhite vinegar
1tspvanilla extract
24creme eggsmini or regular
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
5egg whitesroom temperature
1 ½cupssugar
2cupsunsalted butterroom temperature
1tspvanilla extract
½tspsalt
½cupbittersweet chocolatemelted and cooled
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes:
Place half of your creme eggs in the freezer for 30 minutes prior to starting.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare your baking pan by placing the cupcake liners in.
Add very hot or boiling water into a mixing bowl of the stand mixer. Mix in instant espresso powder, and stir lightly until dissolved.
Carefully pour in chocolate chips and cocoa powder. Let this sit for 2 minutes to melt the chocolate, then stir until smooth.
In a seperate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
Add in the flour mixture to the chocolate espresso mixture, and stir until just combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed with a spatula.
Mix in the eggs one at a time.
Then add vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla, and mix until the batter is smooth - it will be thin!
Fill cupcake liners ¾ full, and place one Creme Egg in the middle of each. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with minimal crumbs).
Allow cupcakes to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and place on a cooling rack until fully cooled.
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
Add egg whites, sugar and salt in a heat-proof bowl. Give the mixture a brief whisk.
Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl. Whisk the egg whites occasionally while it warms up. When the mixture has warmed, whisk it constantly. You will heat the mixture until it reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or until it's not grainy between your fingers.
Transfer the bowl to a stand mixer or transfer to stand mixer bowl, mix with a whisk attachment until you get room temperature glossy peaks. This will take about 8 minutes or more.
Switch to a paddle attachment and while the mixture is running on low, add tablespoon sized dollops of room temperature butter making sure to let the butter incorporate before you add the next piece. Once all the butter is incorporated, go ahead and add the vanilla extract.
The desired temperature of Swiss Meringue is about 73°F. If you find the buttercream looks curdled, it has cooled too much. Place the bowl over the simmering water again and stir the mixture, it will heat up very quickly and start to smooth out. If you find the opposite, that your mixture seems very runny, place it in the fridge to cool down. It should set up fine.
Drizzle in the melted and cooled chocolate while the mixer is running on low. Scrape the bowl down and mix again. You can now transfer it to a piping bag.