Dark, dark chocolate 10 lb cupcake recipe

by Heidi Holtan

Yesterday we tried out this spanking new giant cupcake pan in the KAXE kitchen. It turned out delicious, don't get us wrong. But I think we need a little more practice with it.

The top got a little crisp, and the bottom was a little wet. Did I mention it was delicious?

I used a recipe for a regular cake out of one of my favorite cookbooks, "Baking Illustrated" put out by Cook's Illustrated magazine. Here's my take on their recipe for Chocolate Sheet Cake.

DARK DARK CHOCOLATE GIANT CUPCAKE

3/4 c cocoa, dark Dutch-processed
1 1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
8 oz dark chocolate bar, broken up
12 Tbsps (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 large eggs (I used 5 not so large eggs)
1 1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Adjust oven rack to the middle and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease the giant cupcake pan.
Sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Heat the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl covered with plastic wrap for 2 minutes at 50 percent power. Stir until smooth. (If not fully melted, heat 1 minute longer at 50 percent power.) Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk until smooth.

Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until combined. Whisk in the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth and glossy. Pour the batter into the prepared pan; bake until firm in the center when lightly pressed and a toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes (ours took more like 50-55 minutes). Cool on a wire rack until room temperature.

Frosting
Real whipped cream worked great with this - made with sugar and vanilla. Between the top and bottom layers I added some raspberry jam that was really good.

Wondering how BIG the cupcake really was? See here.