These Chocolat Royal cupcakes may look ordinary; they’re anything but. They’re so deep, dark, rich, and brazenly chocolaty that they altogether reject frosting and prefer to go about au naturale. (Out of a sense of modesty, I’ve given them at least the barest negligee of powdered sugar.) They’re so moist and decadent, they’ll knock your triple-chocolate socks off.
What you need for 6 jumbo cupcakes:
84g (½ cup) chopped, bittersweet chocolate
39g (⅓ cup) Dutch-processed cocoa
200g (¾ cup) Chocolat Royal liqueur
118g (¾ cup) bread flour
150g (¾ cup) sugar
¾ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp baking soda
77g (¼ cup + 2 Tbs) saffron oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
Powdered sugar, for decorating, optional
How to do it:
- Line a six-capacity, jumbo muffin tin with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place the chocolate and cocoa in a large mixing bowl. Heat the liqueur just to the boiling point (1 minute in the microwave) and pour it over the chocolate-cocoa mixture. Let stand until the chocolate has melted (5 minutes), then whisk until smooth. Pop it into the refrigerator to encourage it to cool off, about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together dry ingredients.
- Once the chocolate mixture is no longer warm, whisk into it the oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla until well blended. Whisk in flour mixture until smooth. Divide batter among cupcakes liners. Bake until tester comes out clean, about 27 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack until no longer too hot to handle, about 10 minutes. Remove from tin and allow to cool fully on the rack, about 30 minutes (because they’re downright sinful when still just barely warm 😉 ). Dust with powdered sugar.
Notes:
If these cupcakes were literature, they’d be a steamy romance novel, bordering on erotica. In terms of flavor and intensity, they make a deep, probably-illegal incursion into fudge brownie territory, although they don’t have a brownie’s density: they’re truly cake. The crumb is tender and yielding, while the tops are a tiny bit chewy in the best way, with just a hint of saltiness. Perfecto!
Yes, three-quarters of a cup of liqueur is a lot. I’m no scientist, but I believe that the alcohol is at least partly responsible for this cake’s tight structure. When the cake is freshly baked, you don’t taste the liqueur, but in time – and these cupcakes last for days on end at room temperature in a tightly-sealed container – you taste it more and more.
The melted chocolate mixture will cool more quickly if you use a large mixing bowl.
This recipe is easy to whisk by hand. No need for a stand mixer.
You want to catch the cakes the very moment they’re done, so test early. You want to pull them out of the oven within one minute of their having crossed the doneness threshold. Err on the side of underdone and call it a molten cake if you have to.
The cupcakes will crack on top, and as they cool, they’ll flatten slightly.
Don’t attempt to pull the cupcakes up and out of the tin. They’re too delicate at this stage. Instead, invert the wire rack, place it atop them, invert the entire thing, lift off the tin, and turn the cupcakes right-side-up.
You’d be hard-pressed to find an icing that would add to these cupcakes. They’re a solo act. If you’re someone who thinks of a cupcake as nothing more than the foundation for a mountain of buttercream, OK fine. I not only tolerate your proclivity, I’m happy for you. However, if you’re someone who really loves cake, and you do find an icing that works well with these beauties, I’d love to hear from you. (I’ve been having fantasies about topping them with a thick, pipeable dulce de leche.)
Chocolat Royal Cupcakes
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. The porn industry did not pay me to invent these cupcakes, although when you taste one, you’ll think they did. They’re so good, they seem indecent and should probably be illegal.
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These are heavenly! Do I have to buy a bottle of chocolate liqueur for this or can I use other liqueur instead?
angiesrecipes recently posted…Quinoa Filled Hokkaido
Ooh, that’s a great question. This liquour is thick, similar in consistency to Baileys (which is the same as saying that it is roughly the same thickness as milk). My suspicion is that you’d need something like this OR that you could use a water-like liquour, but compensate with the addition of powdered milk. This really pushes my mind into some interesting directions, though. I think I feel some experiments coming on. (Baileys, btw, would probably be a fantastic substitute.)
Illegal and indecent cupcakes? I’m sold! These seriously look amazing, Jeff. While frosting is good, I totally respect the fact that sometimes frosting is just overkill. (Somewhere Laura just groaned in disgust with that statement…but it’s true!) I kinda need one of these cupcakes in my life today. (Also, this reminds me of that French movie with a similar name. Strange movie, but good.)
David @ Spiced recently posted…Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls
I do realize that I’m stepping out there on thin ice when I say no to frosting, but if you try one of these cupcakes, you’ll understand why it’s true in this case. (I’ll have to check out that movie!)
Oh, those wouldn’t last until they cooled in this house. I’ve never made a cupcake with Chocolat Royal liqueur and after checking I guess I will not be able to. Our liquor monopoly doesn’t carry it. We can get Mozart Dark Chocolate liqueur, do you think that would work?
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I don’t know Mozart Dark Chocolate liqueur, but I sure wish I did! It sounds fantastic. If it’s thick, kind of like Baileys-thick, I would think it’d work.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance novel, steamy or otherwise. I’ll just have to make these cupcakes to see what I’ve been missing. 🙂 Really nice — thanks.
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Curried Pumpkin and Carrot Soup
Actually, I read one once, accidentally. Actually, I listened to it. I listen to books on Audible during my commute to and from work, and I downloaded one that I thought was a mystery, but it turned out to be a romance novel, and once I realized it, I though, well hell, I might as well finish it. Good lord, I hope that never happens again.
Ooh, I’m feeling steamy just thinking about these au naturel cupcakes wearing the barest negligee of powered sugar! I see there is saffron oil in these cupcakes- that’s certainly unique!
Thanks!
Saffron oil! Did you make it? Did you buy it? I gotta try these. GREG
I bought it! And it wasn’t easy to find, but Whole Foods has it.
Jeff, I’m a fan of cake. No matter how good the frosting is, I always scrape it off. These can clearly stand alone! I don’t make jumbo cupcakes; how many standard do you think this would make, maybe 9?
Jean | Delightful Repast recently posted…Joy of Cooking: 2019 Edition – Review and Giveaway
I’ve not baked these cupcakes is a stanDard size, so I don’t know. But my first guess would be 12.
Wow, I’m definitely going to have to try these. Loved your intro — so entertaining. And what a mouth-watering ingredient list — I’m most intrigued by the saffron oil. Can’t wait. 🙂 ~Valentina
Thank you, Valentina!
Absolutely beautiful! We love decadent chocolate desserts. The booze makes it sounds over-the-top luscious.
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Thanks, Eva!
Jeff absolutely love these chocolate cupcakes ! Look delicious !
Thanks!
These looks wonderful. Almost a brownie in cupcake form… I love brownies so I bet I’d love this. And that chocolate liqueur must put it over the top. I was “boycotting” cupcakes for a while, when they were the latest cool thing. I hate food fads. But now that their trendiness has faded, I can enjoy them again. 😉
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