Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes

Prepare pudding first. In a small saucepan, add milk, sugar, dark chocolate, cornstarch, and coffee. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thick. Remove from heat. Mix in vanilla and salt.

Pour pudding into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. While the pudding is chilling, make the cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cupcake pans with liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, oil, buttermilk, coffee, eggs, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix until combined.

Divide batter into cupcake pan filling each section ⅔ full. Bake 20–22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

To make the Swiss meringue, whisk egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a double boiler over medium-low heat. Continue whisking until sugar completely dissolves, about 3–5 minutes.

Transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on high for 7–10 minutes, until the meringue has reached firm peaks.

Make the whipped cream by beating cold heavy cream with powdered sugar until the cream reaches stiff peaks.

To assemble the cupcakes, carefully cut out the centers. Reserve centers in a small bowl. Fill each center with a spoonful of the chilled chocolate pudding.

Fill a piping bag with the whipped cream and frost each cupcake. Sprinkle reserved cake crumbs over cupcakes.

Add Swiss meringue in a separate piping bag. Pipe meringue in the shape of a ghost (don’t worry if they don’t all look the same!). Add 2 mini chocolate chips for eyes.