Monday 16 June 2008

get passionate about brownies - brownie cupcakes with passion fruit topping!

well by now, most of you who read this blog will know that i am a HUGE chocolate fan...i just adore the stuff and one of my favourite ways to enjoy chocolate is in the shape and taste of the humble brownie...

A chocolate brownie, also known as a brownie, Bangor brownie or Boston brownie, is a small, rich, chocolate baked cake-slice, named after its brown colour.

crikey - what rocket scientist decided to name brownies brownies after its brown colour!!!! here i was hoping for some great story to go with my post and instead i'm left with this...well let's move on to the creation itself...

i was at the sunday market...again...(well it is one of my favourite haunts to pick up delicious delicacies for my cupcake creations) and spied that passion fruit curd made by the same company whose sauces i used for my cheeky chocolate cupcakes and in my butterscotch bananan bread. they have sample jars of all the sauces open on the stall with crackers in a bowl so you can try before buy...and it works a dream. the passion fruit curd just kinda melted in my mouth. honestly i could just eat the curd out of the jar...no need for anything else...it's that good!


so i snapped it up and brought it home and figured it would be the perfect complement to some brownie cupcakes that i've been dreaming of making for awhile now.

i'm sure you'd agree that the lovely yellow of the curd with the deep brown of the chocolate topping is almost too good to resist...almost but of course, i had to have my taste-test. LOVED these. the brownie was yummy. dense and fudge-y. i just topped these with melted chocolate...added nothing...i like my chocolate to remain as chocolate! and then the spoon of passion fruit curd and a cranberry. i like it...it's kinda like a lovely exotic accessory to the brownie!

take a peek outside and inside...i just love the way the chocolate topping has set and kept its lovely cupcake shape!

so the recipe...

Brownie Cupcake

4 oz dark chocolate ( i like to use 70%)
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
3 eggs
3/4 c. plain flour
1/8 t. salt

melt the chocolate in a double boiler with the butter until combined.
remove from heat and leave to cool.
whisk in sugar until incorporated then add vanilla extract.
add the eggs one by one, beating each one before adding.
add flour and salt a few tablespoons at a time until fully combined.
batter will be runny and quite difficult to navigate into cupcake cases!
bake for 20 mins at your usual baking temperature.

Topping

a bar of baking chocolate

melt chocolate, leave to cool then spoon onto cupcakes and leave to cool and set. pop a teaspoon of passion fruit curd (if you're lucky enough to have it!) on top and a cranberry. yummy!

11 comments:

Rachel@fairycakeheaven said...

ooo I'd say these are lovely and tangy!! DIVINE!!!

Unknown said...

hi rachel...they were...the passion fruit nicely complemented the chocolate...a great combo!

The Caked Crusader said...

Beautiful. I love the way the chocolate has set and given the cupcake really smooth sides.
Lovely!

Unknown said...

hi caked crusader, me too, me too! i was so pleased it set so smooth!

Faery said...

brownie cupcakes, what a great idea, they look sooo yummy with all that chocolate on top and the passion fruit curd *sigh* Passion fruit, I love it so much...I am going to make my famous (here in my town hi hi ) passion fruit curd,(just for you), with the passion fruits that grow in my backyard they are huge and the color of the pulp is bright orange

Unknown said...

faery, i can't wait to see your passion fruit curd...then maybe next time i can make my own instead of having to buy it! i'd love to learn how to make it...because if yours tastes anyway like the one i bought (i bet it tastes better!) then i will have to make jars of it!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I think you've made a perfect combination-brownies AND cupcakes! I really like the chocolate topping, it reminds me a bit of a Reese's Peanut butter cup

Y said...

I love passionfruit and lemon curds. Once you have it around, it's hard not to find uses for it all the time, isn't it! :)

Unknown said...

hi lorraine, yes it does look like one of those reese's peanut butter cups...we don't get those here...actually a lot of american chocolates don't make their way here...hershey's, ghirardelli, etc. i used to love ghirardelli chocolate chips when i was in Singapore and i can't get them now!

hey Y! passion fruit curd is really divine...it's pure exoticness on a spoon if you ask me!

vicki said...

I love baking cupcakes and I am always on the look out for easy and yummy cupcakes. I'm going to try this one. I don't think I can get the curd though. Could you recommend an alternative?

Unknown said...

hi vicki...you could serve these still warm with fresh cream or ice cream...hmmm, yummy! or you could pipe a little bit of vanilla buttercream on top or any buttercream flavoured with whatever takes your fancy...! enjoy!