Few things are perfect but these things come to mind:

Black Cocoa Powder which was used in these dark, dark, moist and chocolatey malted cupcakes.
Calorie FREE chocolate malted cupcakes which these are NOT…one can certainly dream can’t she?
And my daughter’s smile when opening her fifteenth birthday present which was a first edition copy of her favorite book with author’s signature.

My words are few today because life is going at its usual lightning speed right now. So what’s new? But life is good and birthdays are super good. And watching your daughter open presents and having your husband make her dreams come true are all beautiful things. He was the mastermind behind finding a signed first edition of Night Circus and surprising her with it yesterday morning.

Having an innately sweet and generous mastermind of a hubby also definitely makes my list of perfect things. Although no human is perfect, his kind heart and overall general dadness is sheer perfection.

These cupcakes are perfectly evil though, insanely dark and chocolatey in part due to the black cocoa and mostly due to the volume of chocolate and the added malt for richness and over-the-top-ness. Why black cocoa is not on all grocery store shelves I will never know. Just like black holes and the darkest parts of the sea, some things are an eternal mystery.

And to make matters worse, or better, it’s all how you look at it I guess, this cupcake was topped with a whipped, creamy malted chocolate frosting so it can make its final descent(ascent?) into evil awesomeness. So, if you need perfection and evil awesomeness all in one cupcake, make these. Never in my life have I been more sure of anything.

Need a cake version of this cupcake? Then go here to my Whopper of a Cake post. See, I am very versatile over here at S&C.

Chocolate Malt Cupcakes with Whipped

Chocolate Malt Frosting

Recipe heads up! Make the frosting first…it takes about 2 hours to refrigerate.

Chocolate Malt Cupcakes
Makes 16 cupcakes
7 oz (just less than a cup) vegetable oil
1 c. buttermilk
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. granulated sugar
2 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. black cocoa powder or other good quality dark cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 heaping T. of malted milk powder
1 T. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1 c. boiling water

Chocolate Malt Frosting
1 twelve ounce bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips (please use good quality if possible! Really makes a difference)
2 c. heavy cream (oh MY!)
1/2 c. malted milk powder (like Carnation)
1/4 c. granulated sugar
4 ounces cream cheese  at room temperature(I used 1/3 less fat…it was great)
3/4 t. vanilla

To make the cupcakes: Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners.  Heat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a  stand mixer or mixing bowl, combine oil, buttermilk, yolks, and vanilla.  Beat 2 minutes with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer at medium speed.  In another bowl, sift together (or use a wire whisk like I do to avoid sifting) sugar, flour, cocoa(s), malt powder, baking soda and salt.  With mixer on LOW speed, add one third of the sifted dry ingredients to oil mixture and beat until blended.  Then add one third of the hot water and slowly combine these (you don’t want the hot water to splatter on you…ouch!).

Continue this process, scraping down the bowl often until all ingredients have been add and mixed.   Using an ice cream scoop for ease, fill each muffin liner 2/3 full.  Bake at 325 for about 20-25 minutes testing the cupcake for doneness (clean toothpick  when inserted into a cupcake and cake should be springy when you lightly touch it).  Cool for at least 45 minutes before frosting.

Make the frosting: Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler (when I am in a huge rush, I melt chocolate in the microwave in a glass container 45 seconds at a time, stirring in between. If you use this shortcut, do not over cook, chocolate will seize. Heat, check, stir, heat a little more, repeat).  In a stand mixer or mixing bowl, with a wire whip, combine malt powder and cold cream.  Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form, but are not dry.  Transfer to another bowl, cover and place in the refrigerator while you do the next steps.  In a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment, put sugar, ROOM TEMP cream cheese and vanilla inside.  Beat on  high speed until creamy, about 1 minute and scrape bowl.  Add melted chocolate to cheese mixture and beat 1 minute on medium speed.  Remove bowl of malt cream mixture from fridge and add 1/2 of the mixture to the mixing bowl.  Beat on medium speed until it is incorporated  Fold in the remaining whipped cream until the mixture is a uniform color.  Transfer the mixture to another bowl, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

This frosting is a creamy non-pipeable frosting. It is best spread on rustically with a frosting spreader or butter knife.