Chocolate, glorious chocolate

I made these for the Mexican Chef's housewarming party.

I bought instant espresso powder specifically for this recipe. Ordinarily, I refuse on principle to buy something that I will only use for one recipe. I relented in this case because I noticed it coming up on several chocolate-based recipes so I figured I would use it again in the future.

Turns out, it makes a great cup of coffee.

While preparing it for this recipe, I made myself a cup with some steamed (in the microwave) milk and it was delicious.

Anyhoo, this recipe also comes from Eat Feed Autumn Winter by Anne Bramley. The original recipe calls for stuffing the cupcakes with the whipped ganache but I used the whipped ganache as the frosting instead.

For the frosting, I also used two different kinds of dark chocolate: dark and darker. In hindsight, perhaps a little too dark.

I also should have been more patient with the ganache, but I was under some time constraint.

I'd like to say these cupcakes were the star of the show but honestly, it was probably baby Sophie and her giggle. Like that strange New York Lottery commercial, it was sweeter than sweet.