Dense Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

These cupcakes are inspired by a tin of Bacio dark chocolates which I found on my kitchen bench yesterday.  I immediately remembered a recipe using dark chocolate and almond meal from my Crabapple Bakery Cookbook.  I modified it slightly to come up with this. And wow...it turned out to be one of the best chocolate cupcakes I've ever tasted.  (And boy, have I sampled a lot of cupcakes). These cupcakes are so moist, and dense - but not dense in a 'weigh-me-down' sort of way - in fact, I could far too easily polish off a handful of these cupcakes in one go. The cake itself has such a hit chocolate intensity, which is balanced perfectly with a good swirl of two-tone buttercream icing.  If there's one recipe you try from this site, this cupcake has got to be it.  Makes rougly 15

Ingredients
175g unsalted butter, softened
200g good quality eating dark chocolate
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cup almond meal
1 cup cocoa
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees (fan-forced).  Line 12-hole muffin trays. Combine butter, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan over low heat.  Mix continuously with a metal spoon until melted and smooth.  Place almond meal and cocoa in a separate bowl.  Pour melted chocolate mixture in this almond-cocoa mixture bowl and beat for 1 min on low speed.  The mixture should be thorougly combined.  Add 2 eggs at a time, beating after each addition until mixture is smooth. Do not over-beat or too much air will be incorporated and cupcakes will crack during baking.  Add vanilla extrat and fold through well.  Divide mixture evenly between cupcake cases.  Bake for 30 min or until cupcakes spring back slightly when touched.  Remove cupcakes from oven and cool in trays before frosting.

Ingredients for Plain Buttercream
125g butter, softened
1 tsp milk
1 1/2 cup icing sugar

Method
Beat butter until smooth.  Add half of icing sugar and beat until smooth.  Add milk and beat again.  Add rest of icing sugar and beat until mixture is spreadable.  Scoop this plain buttercream into a large piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (eg. 1 inch wide)

Ingredients for Blue Buttercream
125g butter, softened
1 tsp milk
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
+ 2 drops royal blue food gel colouring

Method
Beat butter until smooth.  Add half of icing sugar and beat until smooth.  Add milk and beat again.  Add rest of icing sugar, along with food gel colouring, and beat until mixture is spreadable.  Add more food colouring if you'd like a darker blue.  Scoop this blue buttercream into the same piping bag which should be filled with plain buttercream.  Squeeze this down to reduce air bubbles.  Pipe, in a circular motion, onto cooled cupcakes.  Now top with a Bacio chocolate.  Bite in an savour the taste! Store in an air-tight container for 2-3 days