Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes

... also known as Chocolate Debacle Cupcakes.

Arg. Today was a day of debacles on a scale I haven't seen for a while... craziness in the office meant that I was several hours later leaving than I should have been (and that's just the tip of the iceberg - I figure I'll be lucky to do less than 14 hours in the office tomorrow...!). I'd promised to make my sister Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes. She was finishing work late, and was going to swing by my house to pick them up.

So. I was running late - and after realizing I had no eggs in the house, had to make a brief detour to the shops - but I thought I would just have time to make a half batch of Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes.

The only problem - I realized AFTER I had put them in the oven that I had halved all the ingredients except for the butter! Yeah... don't do that. But in true lazy cook form, I wasn't going to waste it - I just let them cook until they firmed up. Hey - they weren't going to blow up the oven at least. Small mercies, hey?

And to top it all off, after rushing around like a headless chook, my sister decided she couldn't be bothered picking up the cupcakes today after all!

Ironically, the cupcakes were absolutely delicious. Incredibly moist, chocolatey, and above all, moussey - just goes to show that, no matter how badly you stuff up, something good can still come of it!

So - here is the recipe as it should have been. I got it from my host family when I was staying in Houston on a choir trip. I can vouch for its deliciousness when it is made properly - as well as when you screw up the recipe like I did!

Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes

You will need

200 g dark chocolate (I used orange and almond, but plain is fine)
95 g butter, cut into cubes (I used 190 g... don't do that!)
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1/3 C brown sugar
icing sugar, for dusting

large, deep baking dish (big enough to take the cupcake tray
6 cupcake tray
deep patty pans
2 mixing bowls
boiling water
saucepan
electric beater
whisk
wooden spoon

1. Preheat oven to 170C. Boil kettle. Line cupcake tray with patty pans.
   
2. Put chocolate and butter in heatproof mixing bowl. Pour boiling water in saucepan. Place bowl over (but not touching) boiling water to create a double boiler. NOTE water should simmer, not boil. Mix until butter and chocolate are melted and smoothly combined.
   
3. Add egg yolks to vanilla and mix.
   
4. Once chocolate and butter are combined, allow to cool for a minute or two. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla mixture.
5. Add the salt to the egg whites. Beat until frothy (about 1 minute on medium).
6. Add 1/2 the sugar and beat until combined.
7. Add the remaining sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overbeat.
8. 1/3 of the egg whites at a time, fold in the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold until just combined (don't lose the air!).
9. Spoon mixture into cupcake tray.
10. Place cupcake tray in deep baking dish and place dish in oven.
11. Pour boiling water into the deep baking dish down the side (not in the mix! but so it surrounds the cupcake tray), thus creating a bain marie.
12. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until fully set. Since this is a mousse cake, the traditional skewer test isn't so effective. Just make sure it's fully set in the middle.
13. Once cool, dust with icing sugar.
    

For those of you who think it might be a good idea to use a ramekin instead for that pudding effect - don't. Just don't. See the sad looking collapsed one in the front (below):

Voila! I suggest baking this on a debacle free day - but let me tell you, one or two of these after you've had a debacle will make you feel much, much better.