chocolate cupcakes with bittersweet glaze.

I do the best I can to space out the chocolate recipes on this site so you don't go into cocoa-overload, but it's becoming increasingly difficult these days since my stress level is up and hello, so is my need for a chocolate fix.

I have a few dozen rosy-pink peaches sitting on the counter waiting to me smashed into jam, and two sacks of White Lily flour in the bottom of my pantry from South Carolina where I hoarded it into my cart at the Piggly Wiggly with the taste of a salty, buttery biscuit on my tongue and the bags still sit, unopened, in the kitchen. I just can't come off of the chocolate, people, I can't apologize for that.

For a while there, I was pretty good about keeping a few frozen brownies in the icy depth of the freezer for a quick fix in a pinch, but as it turns out, you have to restock that sort of thing. Also, make sure your Dad doesn't know where you are keeping a stash or you'll be setting yourself for disappointment the moment your sweet tooth starts aching.

So desperate times calls for desperate measures, yes? I've read and re-read Molly Wizenberg's book three times over and each time I flip through I think, I really should make that, I'll remember. But I don't remember. I can't even remember what I ate for dinner last night let alone a recipe I bookmarked weeks ago. I can remember my wedding date, that I start graduate classes again this week, I know the number for our realtor and where I put the contracts for the DJ, photographer and caterer. Oh, I can't find my sanity though, so yeah, not everything.

These cuppycakes are delicious, moist, and easy-peasy. When I was younger, I used to scrape the frosting off every slice of cake put in front of me, breaking apart the cake with my fork and refusing to eat it. It's a wonder I'm not a diabetic thanks to decades of grocery store frosting, but in the last few years I've gotten over frosting, favoring an everyday sort of cake without mounds and mounds of buttercream on top.

In lieu of a dollop of frosting, these cupcakes wear a crunchy chocolate cap - a slick of bittersweet chocolate right across the top that, once set, snaps under your teeth and gives way to the chocolaty-good cake underneath. These are gone already, and none of them are hidden in the freezer, but I really should get on that.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Bittersweet Glaze
Adapted from A Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg

1 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup hot brewed coffee
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baknig pwder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup will-stirred plain whole-milk yogurt*
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the glaze:

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used chips)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line the wells of a standard-sized muffin pan with paper liners.

Put the semisweet chocolate in a small bowl with the hot coffee. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and opaque.

In a second medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or with beaters if you're using a hand-held mixer), beat the egg on medium speed for about one minute. Add the oil, yogurt and vanilla and beat well. Gradually pour in the melted chocolate and coffee mixture and beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients all at once, and beat on low speed until the batter is just combined. Scrape down the bowl and spoon the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the tins for about 20 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the glaze.

Over a double boiler of simmering water or in short bursts in the microwave, melt the chocolate until it is shiny and smooth. Spoon a few teaspoons on top each cupcake, nudging it to the edge. Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature for about an hour or until the chocolate cap is firm and matte.

* The recipe insisted against using low-fat or non-fat yogurt. I don't know about your grocery store, but mine doesn't stock full-fat yogurt. I used low-fat Greek yogurt instead and they were best the first day, but by the second, they were leaning towards dry. Where can a girl find full-fat yogurt these days?