I hate Valentine's Day....

Okay, so hate is probably too strong a word. Let's just say, I don't do Valentine's Day. Last year, I told the guy I was seeing that I didn't celebrate Valentine's Day. At first, he smiled and looked relieved, but then he got a worried and somewhat suspicious look on his face. I had to assure him that this wasn't some sort of test or secret girl code for "Of course I celebrate, and I expect you to sweep me off my feet and shower me with gifts and affection." In spite of my assurances, I think he was secretly waiting for the other shoe to drop until February 15th.

Why don't I celebrate? Well, these days I'm usually working, and this year I'm not currently seeing anyone anyway. But, even without the work excuse or the no date excuse, I never really celebrated. It just seemed like a bunch of fluffy nonsense that had as much chance for generating disappointment as it did butterflies. I'd rather receive flowers "just because" rather than because of a date on the calendar.

Now, don't get me wrong, even though I don't celebrate the big day myself doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with it, as I hope you can appreciate with this week's recipe, Little Devils. These cupcakes are my tribute to everyone who's ever been burned by love. As we all know, Cupid may look like a cherub, but anyone who’s been stung by one of his arrows knows that he likes to have his fun, too. These mini-cupcakes are chocolate devil's food topped with Italian meringue and browned with a crème brulée torch.
 

Little Devils

Makes 18 full sized cupcakes, about 60 mini-cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

6 Tbsp     unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 ½ cups  all-purpose flour

½ tsp        baking soda

½ tsp        baking powder

½ tsp        coarse salt

¾ cups     unsalted butter

1 ¼ cups  sugar

2               eggs

2 tsp         pure vanilla extract

½ cup       sour cream

½ cup       milk

For the meringue:

1 ½ cups  sugar

1 tbsp       corn syrup

½ cup       water

6               large egg whites

To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line mini-muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium to medium high speed until pale in color and light and fluffy in texture, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Add the milk and sour cream, and mix until just blended. Add the last half of the flour and mix until blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Be careful to not overmix the batter or you will develop too much gluten and the texture of the cupcakes will be chewy and bready.  

Using a portion scoop, spoon the batter into the lined cups, filling each ²/₃ to ¾ full. It's important to make sure they are all filled with the same amount of batter to ensure that they all bake evenly. It's also important to not overfill the cupcake cups as they will "mushroom" as they bake and stick to the top of the pan.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until a tester inserted in the cakes comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to finishcooling completely.

To make the meringue:

Heat sugar, water and corn syrup in a saucepan over medium high heat to the soft ball stage, 248°F on a candy thermometer. 

While the sugar is cooking, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks in a stand mixer with the whip attachment. Reduce the mixer speed to medium low and carefully pour in hot syrup. Increase the mixer speed to medium high and continue to whip until cool (about 5 minutes). Spoon or pipe the meringue on top of the cupcakes. Try different piping tips and get creative. Using a crème brulée torch, brown the meringue. You'll see that depending on which tip you used to pipe the meringue, you'll get different colors and patterns with the torch.  


The cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days. That is assuming you can keep yourself from devouring them all at once.  Enjoy!