Tablea de Cacao Chocolate Cupcakes

Recipe yields 9 cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Bring water and sugar to a boil over low heat. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add in tablea de cacao, cocoa powder and butter. Stir until chocolate has melted and mixture has melted slightly. Stir in vanilla.

Beat the egg into the chocolate mixture using an electric mixer (you can also use a wooden spatula and beat vigorously). Mix in dry ingredients, beat just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide batter between muffin tins (about 1/4 cup per cupcake). If there are tins that are not filled, pour about 1/4 cup of water into the holes so the cupcakes would bake evenly. Bake at 350F for about 20-25 mins.

Cool in pan for 15-30 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

Once cool, fill and frost as you wish.

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Notes:
* Tablea de Cacao is basically blocks of cocoa powder, usually much stronger than baking chocolate. To give you more idea about how it looks, you can search for “Tablea” on Google images.
* The cupcakes may sag after cooling — I decided to fill my cupcakes to make them plump again.
* Make sure chocolate chips are evenly distributed among the cups as this may cause a “molten” or “lava” effect once they’re baked. You can also omit the chocolate chips altogether.