Once upon a time there was a marvelous little cupcake store in South Jordan called

One Sweet Slice. 

 

It was my "go-to" place for a treat when I had a bad day, when I had to say 'I'm sorry' to someone, when I wanted to wish a person a Happy Birthday...you know, it was just my place.  Then came the sad and rather abrupt news that they were closing the store.  I rushed to cash in my punch cards (I had 44 punches to redeem - did I mention how much I loved their cupcakes?) 

I was pretty devastated.

Then I got an early Valentine's day present from my husband.  The owner of One Sweet Slice had put out a cookbook of some of her favorite cupcakes:  One Sweet Cupcake. I was pretty excited for this present!

So on Valentine's Day I decided to attempt the recipe of my favorite cupcake from her shop:

Chocolate Fleur de Sel Cupcakes

Cupcakes

Wet Ingredients

1/2 c. dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
1/2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla

Dry Ingredients

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. Dutch-processed cocoa powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place chocolate in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Pour boiling water over chocolate and let sit for 1 minute.  Using the whisk attachment, mix until smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add sour cream, applesauce, oil, eggs, and vanilla. 
In a separate bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.  Turn the stand mixer on low and add dry ingredients.  Mix until just incorporated.  Batter should be smooth.
Line four standard muffin tins with cupcake liners.  Fill each cup 2/3 full with batter.  Use an ice cream scoop for perfect measuring.  Bake until the tops spring back at the touch of your finger and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool completely before filling and icing.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1 c. heavy cream
2 c. finely chopped good-quality bittersweet chocolate

Directions:

Place chocolate in a heat proof bowl.  Bring cream to a simmer on stovetop until just before boiling, then pour mixture over chocolate.  Let stand, without stirring, until the chocolate begins to melt.

Using a whisk, start at the center of the mixture and stir until the chocolate and cream are combined and smooth.  Do not overmix.

Place a layer of plastic directly on the ganache and refrigerate, stirring every 5 minutes until the mixture begins to cool and thicken.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (I halved this recipe)

2 lbs. unsalted butter, softened
4 lbs. powdered sugar, divided
1/4 c. milk
3 Tbsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/4 c. dark chocolate ganache

Directions:

In a stand mixer bowl with a paddle attachment, beat butter until light, completely smooth, and fluffy.  Turn the mixer speed to low and add half of the powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth.  Alternately, add remaining powder sugar and milk until smooth and creamy.  Add vanilla and salt.  Add in cocoa powder and ganache and beat until smooth.

Caramel Filling

1/2 c. butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. heavy cream

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in brown sugar and cream.  Bring to a boil over medium to high heat for about 5 minutes or until caramel sauce begins to thicken.


Finishing touches:

Core the center of the cupcake and fill with Caramel Filling and salt.  Ice with Chocolate Buttercream, drizzle with caramel and garnish with course salt.

In my test kitchen:

Ok....what to say here.  This is a very labor-intensive dessert.  The cupcake itself is simple as can be.  But the rest of it takes some time.  Which is why it is so delicious.  WHEN I make this again, I would do the following:

Cupcakes can be made right away.  They are simple.  I just used dark chocolate chips rather than finding full bars and chopping it into pieces.  And do not substitute the Dutch-processed cocoa powder for regular baking cocoa.  They have different flavors.  I found mine at Whole Foods.  When I first read to line four standard muffin tins I assumed the recipe would make 48 cupcakes...which I did not need.  So I halved the cupcake recipe and it only made 12 cupcakes.  I'm not sure if a standard muffin tin to her has only 6 tins but mine have 12.  So just know that this recipe above makes about 24 cupcakes.  Also, there is no reference anywhere in her book for an estimated time to cook chocolate cupcakes.  So I cooked mine at 340 degrees (my oven runs hot) and cooked them for about 15-18 minutes.

Make the frosting next.  Then the ganache.  She doesn't clarify in the recipe but I don't think you are meant to wait for the ganache to completely solidify before adding it to the frosting.  Mine was very solid when I added it in because I had left it in the fridge while I made the frosting and while it incorporated well, I don't think the overall color of the frosting was as dark as it should have been.  So just wait until the ganache has cooled and thickened and then remove it from the fridge to stay in a more liquid form???  Also, I halved both of these recipes and had plenty of frosting for 24 cupcakes.

Next, I would wait for the caramel to cool a fair amount before putting it into the cupcakes and drizzling on top.

~Happy Cooking!