Happy Birthday Tim!

I made these cupcakes for Tim's birthday. He is probably the biggest fan of dark chocolate I know. People are usually surprised when they find out he loves chocolate more than I do. One of his favorite desserts is rich chocolate cake, so I wanted to make just that. Also, I had a bar of Valrhona 70% cocoa in the cupboard I'd been thinking about this week, and it seemed like the perfect occasion to use it.

Now, I've made an orange variation of this recipe before, but I did not pay attention to a key detail, ruining the texture of this lovely cupcake. Dark chocolate cakes are best made a day ahead, kept in the refrigerator until about an hour before serving. Do not make the mistake of leaving them out too long. They will not be dense and moist like it should be!

Melt-in-your-mouth Chocolate Cake
from Chocolate & Zucchini

Ingredients:
2 sticks minus 1 Tbsp butter
7 oz Valrhona 70% cocoa
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
a rounded tablespoon of flour

Directions:
Note: like all dark chocolate cakes, this cake is best made a day ahead (or at least in the morning if you serve it for dinner).

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with cupcake cups.
1. Melt together the butter with the chocolate. Transfer into a medium mixing-bowl. 2. Add in the sugar, stir, and let cool a little.
3. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add in the flour and mix well.
5. Scoop into cupcake cups and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.
6. Turn the oven off but leave the cake inside for another ten minutes, then put the pan on a cooling rack on the counter to cool completely.
7. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and take it out about an hour before serving.