White Chocolate Devils

From Shirley Evans
Makes 12 cupcakes
Total Time: 1 hour plus baking and chilling times

Cupcakes
1 c. AP flour
1 Tbsp. unsweetened alkalized cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 c. buttermilk

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or lightly grease and flour the pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Gently whisk the dry ingredients together until blended; set aside.

In a heavy-duty electric mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until thoroughly blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla; scrape down the side of the bowl with a spatula and beat for 1 minute, until blended. Beat in the chocolate. At low speed, beat in the buttermilk one-third at the time, alternating it with the dry ingredients. Mix just until blended, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary.

Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups and bake the cupcakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until they spring back when lightly touched. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

Filling
2 oz. white chocolate, chopped
1/2 c. heavy cream

Place the white chocolate in a stainless steel bowl. In a saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a gentle boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate. Let the mixture stand for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate; whisk until completely smooth. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the filling for at least 4 hours, until well-chilled.

Using an electric mixer, whip the chilled white chocolate mixture until it reaches the consistency of sour cream.

With a small paring knife, cut a cone-shaped piece, 3/4-inch in diameter, from the center of each cupcake. Remove the cone-shaped pieces of cupcake and cut off the bottom of each cone, leaving a round cap for each cupcake. Discard or eat the cone bottoms and reserve the caps.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a medium plain tip with the white chocolate filling. Pipe the filling into the hole in each cupcake. Cover the filling with the reserved caps. Place the filled cupcakes in an airtight container and place the container in the refrigerator while making the glaze.

Glaze
6 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 c. heavy cream
2 tsp. light corn syrup

Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal chopping blade. Process the chocolate until finely ground, 20 to 30 seconds.

In a small saucepan, bring the cream and the corn syrup to a gentle boil. With the motor running on the food processor, pour the hot cream through the feed tube onto the chocolate. Process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Pour the glaze into a medium bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, until slightly thickened.

Remove the cupcakes from the refrigerator. Dip the top of each cupcake into the glaze and allow the excess glaze to drip off. Place the cupcakes in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, to set the glaze. Remove the cupcakes from the refrigerator and redip the top of each cupcake in the glaze. Set the glazed cupcakes aside at room temperature.

Decoration
2 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped

Melt the white chocolate and fill a small parchment cone or pastry bag fitted with a small plain tip with the melted white chocolate. Drizzle the chocolate in a zig-zag or curly-cue pattern over the glazed cupcakes. Chill the cupcakes until serving.