Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

In honor of her brother coming up from Los Angeles to visit, our friend Ruth invited us and some other friends to enjoy another evening on an electric boat. I couldn't resist the chance to make a treat for everyone, and decided to pull out a recipe I put together a couple years ago that never fails to please.

This instance was no different - and I even got accolades from a sommelier friend who said she could probably land me dessert catering gigs. Very flattering for someone who's not trained as a pastry chef.

The boat ride was a blast, despite a brief interruption by the cops, who 'pulled over' our boat because they thought we were a boat that was reported to have been harassing a research vessel. I have my questions whether there ever was a research vessel, but I know we didn't harass any other boaters - nor did we do anything that any reasonable person could even perceive as harassment. So I suspect they just wanted to make sure I wasn't driving drunk - given that I was intentionally driving the boat a little wonky to go with the music we were listening to.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes
1/2 pound semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate chips
2 sticks of unsalted butter
8 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line 2 cupcake pans with aluminum cupcake liners. Set the first one in a roasting pan.

Bring a kettle of water to a boil.

Combine the chocolate chips (both kinds) in a metal bowl, and add the butter (cut into 1 Tbspn chunks). Set over a simmering pan of water or in the top of a double boiler. Melt the mixture together, stirring constantly, until all the butter and chocolate have melted together—about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until it becomes frothy and doubles in volume—about 5-10 minutes.

Fold 1/3 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula, until the mixture becomes a uniform color. Repeat 2 more times to combine all the egg mixture with the chocolate mixture.

Ladle or pour the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them almost to the top of the liner. (Unlike standard cupcakes, these will not rise much at all.).

Set the roasting pan into the oven. Pour enough boiling water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides of the cupcake tin—being careful not to splash onto the cupcakes. Add hot tap water if your kettle didn’t have enough water.

Bake 20-25 minutes. The top should rise slightly, and the edges should look set. The centers will still look a little soft—but will set as they cool.

Remove cupcake tin from roasting pan and cool on a wire rack. Repeat process with second cupcake pan and remaining batter. After the cupcakes have cooled 20 minutes or so, remove from the cupcake pans and sift tops with powdered sugar.