Brownie Cupcakes

Easter Saga 2


The next chapter in this Easter Saga is the dessert: chocolate brownies. I am aware that I am not complying with the Aristotelian law of time and space (as one would, after the amuse-bouche, usually find oneself in front of the first course), but then again Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon themselves stand above Aristotle's law. In fact, they were the ones who suggested it to him. It happened many years ago, in a land far, far away.
Back then, Aristotle was but a young lad. He was running after girls in the same ways satyrs do, smoked in secret, and was fond of drag-racing his friends in his parents' 2bhp, 5 mph horse cart (which he simply, for the life of him, couldn't park properly). One day, at the end of one of those races, he saw a couple of travellers on the road. As he was trying to park the horse cart, he didn't pay them much attention but focused on his vehicle instead. As such, he constantly looked back and forth, up and down the street and the curb of the pavement in order to better judge his position. Being a bright boy, however, he soon noticed that he saw the two travellers whether he was looking forwards or backwards. He was very much confused. When Celestial Dragon and Divine Cherry noticed the small boy's bewilderment (for, as you will have surmised by now, the two travellers were our two divines), they went up to him in order to try and explain the impossibility of what he'd just seen and so talk some sense into him. And so it was that they were, the three of them, soon discussing the inherent inconsistency of theatre, in which an action might take place, in the logic of the play, over a longer period of time and an impossible geographical distance than the actual play being performed does. Young Aristotle was very confused. He didn't understand a single word. And so Divine Cherry brought forth a mouth-watering chocolate brownie and said: "See this brownie? In your time, and in your world, this brownie does not yet exist. Indeed, chocolate has not been brought to Europe yet. But in the future, this brownie will be delicious, and I will bake it for one of my Easter Lunches. Of course, you don't even know what Easter is, but that's the point." Aristotle was now utterly bewildered. Celestial Dragon then stepped in and made him forget everything. Except for one small thing: a fading, glimmering image of a brown, sweet-smelling and utterly amazing brownie...


Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes (12 mini cupcakes + 6 regular cupcakes)
-100g of dark chocolate cut in small pieces
-125g of unsalter butter, cubed
-220g of sugar
-3 medium-sized eggs
-85g of plain flour
-2 tablespoons of cocoa

Melt the chocolate in the microwave at medium strength. When it's half molten, add the pieces of butter and melt everything together. Be careful not to heat the mixture too much or the chocolate will be ruined.
In another bowl, use a hand whisk to mix together the eggs and the sugar. Add then the flour and the cocoa, as well as the molten chocolate and butter. Mix well until you get a smooth, non-grainy mixture.
Pour everything in muffin moulds patted with paper cases. Instead of using paper cases you can just need to butter anf flour the surface of the moulds a bit. Put in the preheated oven at 180°C for +- 30mins.

Decoration
-50g of dark chocolate
-25g of butter
-3 mini eggs per brownie

Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave - just like you did earlier. Stir the mixture with a spoon in order to cool it down a bit (once it's reached room temperature it will become less liquid and easier to handle). Pour a teaspoon of molten chocolate on a brownie and balance the three mini eggs on top of it. The chocolate frosting will act as a glue.


Tortine di cioccolato (per 12 tortine piccole + 7 tortine grandi)
-100 g cioccolato fondente, tagliato in piccoli pezzetti
- 125 g burro a pezzetti
- 220 g zucchero
- 3 uova medie
- 85 g farina
- 2 cucchiai di cacao

Fondere al microonde il cioccolato a potenza media. Quando è sciolto a metà, aggiungere il burro a pezzetti e fondere il tutto insieme. Attenzione a non scaldare troppo altrimenti il cioccolato sarà rovinato.
In un'altra ciotola, mescolare con una frusta zucchero e uova, aggiungere la farina e il cacao e il cioccolato fuso con il  burro, mescolare bene per non avere grumi ma non troppo a lungo.
Versare il composto negli stampini da muffin foderati con i pirottini di carta (i pirottini sono facoltativi, se i vostri stampi sono in silicone non servono oppure se sono in metallo potete anche semplicemente imburrare e infarinarli bene). Cuocere in forno già caldo (180°C) per 30 minuti circa.

Decorazione:
- 50 g cioccolato fondente
- 25 g burro
 - 3 ovetti per ogni tortino

Fondere il cioccolato con il burro nel microonde come prima. Girare il composto con un cucchiaio per farlo raffreddare un po' (quando è a temperatura ambiente è meno liquido e non scivolerà da tutte le parti). Versare un cucchiaino di composto su ogni tortino e incollare 3 ovetti di cioccolato.


Enjoy,
And Spread the Mess