Valentine's cupcakes made from a rich, intensely chocolate, moist cake baked with dark Guinness beer. The cupcakes are topped with chocolate cream and homemade chocolate hearts.
Prepare the chocolate cream. Finely chop the chocolate and place it in a bowl. Heat the cream until it comes to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a moment to soften the chocolate, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted. (If the mixture is not smooth, you can briefly blend it with a hand mixer, but do not whip it.) Allow it to cool, then cover and refrigerate for a few hours (at least 4), preferably overnight.
Prepare the chocolate batter. Pour the beer into a pot. Add the butter and heat, stirring until the butter melts. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the sugar and cocoa. Whisk together and let cool.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream, egg, and vanilla sugar. Add this mixture to the pot with the beer and whisk together.
Mix the flour with the baking soda. Sift it into the pot with the beer and stir with a whisk, just until the ingredients are combined.
Line the muffin tray with cupcake liners. Fill them with batter until about ⅔ of the height of the liner.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean, at a temperature of 180°C (upper and lower heat). After baking, let the cupcakes sit in the pan for a short time, then remove them from the pan and allow them to cool completely.