Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes

I let Stephanie choose the 3 cupcake flavors in last week's poll. Of course, she chose all chocolate so there was NO WAY she could lose! Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes were the winner with 43% of the votes. I think we're gonna change the name of these to Brownie Batter Cupcakes. Because that's exactly what the frosting tastes like! There is nothing "moussey" about it. It's thick and sticky and fudgy just like brownie batter. If you ask me, that's not a bad thing. However, I was expecting the topping to be light and fluffy. I dunno how light it could be though with 6 egg yolks in it. But the cupcakes are delicious no matter what. The cake is very soft, moist, and chocolatey (chocolat-y? How do you spell that?). The frosting is smooth, rich and extremely chocolatey as well. These cupcakes are made for chocolate lovers!

IngredientsMelting butter and chocolate in a double boiler.The melted chocolate mixture cooling.Ready to fold egg whites into the stiff chocolate batter.Almost done!The "chocolate mousse" divided in half,
and flour being mixed in to make the cupcake batter.Dividing batter the only way I know how!
(If you don't use an ice cream scoop, get one.)Cooling, and you can see I did such a great job dividing the batter...The recipe said take them out when the are just cooked and the middle is still moist.
I guess they were a bit too moist because they sunk (sank?).I used a cookie scoop to divide the batter.
It made exactly 11 perfect scoops for my 11 cupcakes!
(Only 11 because one was destroyed when I was removing them from the pan... and it was delicious)The final product. You can see how fudgy the frosting looks!

They're really good even when they're cold!

Here's the recipe from Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman.

MY NOTES: I used 5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate and 5 oz. extra dark chocolate. I took mine out after 13 minutes (because usually my cupcakes are ALWAYS done before the time on the recipe), and they sank. Leave them in for at least 15 minutes!

Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes (AKA Brownie Batter Cupcakes!)
Makes 12 cupcakes

4 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus good pinch for the egg whites
10 ounces dark chocolate
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
Grated chocolate for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave. Don't cook -- the chocolate and butter should be just melted (Take the bowl off the heat before the chocolate is completely melted. Keep stirring until it's smooth). Stir and set aside.
4. Beat egg yolks and sugar until light yellow and foamy, about 1 minute on high. Beat in the melted chocolate until totally blended.
5. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into chocolate mixture (Fold in 1/3 at a time, being extra gentle with the 2nd and 3rd addition). Divide mixture into two parts and put one of them in the refrigerator to be used later to frost cupcakes. Gently whisk flour mixture into other half until it is completely absorbed (I folded it in with a rubber spatula).
6. Fill cupcake papers about 2/3 full with batter and bake for 15-20 minutes. Don't overcook. Cupcakes should be just cooked and moist in the center (This freaked me out, and I ended up taking them out too early. Leave them in for at least 15 minutes so yours don't sink like mine). Remove from oven and cool.
7. When cupcakes are cool, frost with remaining chocolate mousse. Decorate with grated chocolate.

Overall rating on a scale of 1-5
Moistness: 5
Tenderness: 5
Frosting: 5