Triple-chocolate muffins

I know you've been dribbling over your keyboards for quite a while now, so... Lights! Music! Curtain! Here comes the triple-chocolate muffin!
They were originally intended as an entry to a recent IMBB hosted by I was just really very hungry but I did not manage to post them in time. I mean, post the recipe, of course, not the muffins - I'd rather have them all for myself, thank you. Loosely based on a recipe in a Waitrose "Seasons" magazine, I didn't have the right ingredients at hand, so just used up whatever half-eaten chocolate bars I could find around the house (quite a pile, as you would expect so shortly after Easter). I also deliberately halved the amount of sugar, which has become a bit of a ritual for me, as I tend to find most sweet recipes to be going over the top in that respect. And since refined sugar tastes of absolutely nothing, I don't see the point of filling the pockets of my dentist little by little with every bite I take. My waistline will also be thankful, I am sure.
So where does the triple come in? A mixture of dark and milk chocolate, the filling flavoured with instant coffee, and topped with shavings of white chocolate - coming to think of it, I could call this quadruple-chocolate, or at least 3-and-a-half-different-chocolate-flavours-in-one muffins! But there can never be too much of a good thing, right?

Triple-chocolate muffins
(makes 4)

For the dough:
75 g cark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
40 g caster sugar
75 g butter
2 eggs
75 g self-raising flour

For the ganache:
60 g milk chocolate
35 g dark chocolate
50 ml double cream
1 tsp instant coffee

4 tbsp white chocolate shavings (to decorate)

Preheat oven to 180 C (fan).
For the dough, melt the butter, caster sugar and dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water until melted. Set aside and line the muffin tin with paper cases. When the chocolate mixture has cooled down enough (this is a good excuse to stick your finger in and make sure it's not too hot!), beat in the eggs, then gradually add the flour.
For the ganache, melt all the ingredients in the same way as for the dough before.
Fill the muffin cases to about a third of their height, then drop about a teaspoon of the ganache in the centre of each muffin. Top with the remaining dough and bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 C. Leave to cool slightly.
Reheat the ganache, adding more cream if required. Top the muffins with ganache and, when it has cooled down, decorate with the white chocolate slivers.

Comments

[Tea]

Mmm...*drools* That looks so delectable. =) I'm craving your muffins!! But what's the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? I thought that cupcakes=sweet non-vegetable muffins, so wouldn't a chocolate muffin = a cupcake? Just wondering.^-^

[johanna]

interesting! i wasn't actually aware of that distinction! to me, a muffin is anything that rises higher than the muffin case, whereas a cupcake neatly stays in its cup and doesn't venture beyond. I just googled it and stumbled across a definition on recipezaar, which says that the difference is in the dough - muffin dough is very sensitive to overmixing, whereas cupcake batter isn't. Also, they say muffins are not usually frosted (whereas cupcakes always are) - so is mine a cupcake or a muffin? still no answer. i call it a muffin, because i am not really familiar with the concept of cupcakes (we don't have them in austria and in the UK, there are fairy cakes... but maybe i've just created my first without even knowing!

[Niki]

oooooooooooooh! Yummy!
Muffins have better crust ratios than cupcakes too - there was a whole episode about muffin tops on Seinfeld once.

[Niki]

Ps - I'd probably class what you made as a cupcake rather than a muffin (which I think as as being much plainer - just dough), but it makes classification more difficult when they're in muffin papers.
I don't know - I think it's a hybrid!

[ACM]

I'm glad you've dedicated some time to work through the features of your camera (digital?) and learn how to shoot your beautiful culinary creations. More fun for all of us!

[Deb]

You may never read this, but I've tried your recipe and it is absolutely divine! (got it right on the first go as well!) Well done! It's a great recipe.

[Suvitha]

I WAAAAAAAAAANNNNTTTT. -droool-

[Abraham]

Can't wait for the week-end to prepare them!

[Peter]

This be my muffin recipie YARRRRRR!!!

[Kate]

I just made some and they are bloody good!!!The best muffins i'v ever had!! Thanks 4 the recipie

[Chris]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

v. nice =)

you must try it!

[Christopher Siddarth]

these recipe's are amazin.. i've tried a few of these.... Really gorgeous!!!!!

[kim]

WOW. they look delicious.
I've been googling all the different types of chocolate muffins..
and i practically ignore the ones without pictures =D since i don't know if they look nice.

my eyes were literally glued to the computer screen.
i am definetely going to make your muffins on the weekend!!!
i can't wait.
thanks a lot

[Phyllis]

I love the recipe for Triple Chocolate Muffins!! Coming from New York,I use different measurements ( cups, ounces, etc), I have tried to convert your recipe, but it does not look right to me. Could you send me a reconverted recipe so I can use and enjoy it???
Thanks!!

[Frodo]

these are absolutely wonderful. i found your website utterly by accident (well a google accident) and made these amazing muffins/cupcakes (the argument remains unresolved). they truly are melt in the mouth decadence.

[Lynsey]

Hmm... I did something wrong here as I had no ganache centre - it seems to just be sucked into the muffin dough. Any ideas where I went wrong? They're still pretty good anyway, but just not quite as planned. All suggestions of where I may have gone wrong gratefully received!

[AMY]

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[noelle]

Not a good recipe! The baking time is to short. The muffin is more like a hardened pudding. Nothing like a muffin.

[johanna]

Hi Noelle, I am sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, all I can say is that ovens do vary considerably (I know this as I have moved several times since I started this blog...) - also, I use a fan oven, if you don't have a fan, you should go with about 200C.
Also, my cupcake recipes DELIBERATELY go easy on the baking powder (I just can't stand the taste) which so many others use as a raising agent and since I prefer to use real chocolate rather than cocoa powder, the dough will by nature be more dense.
kind regards
johanna

[johanna]

Hi Noelle, I am sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, all I can say is that ovens do vary considerably (I know this as I have moved several times since I started this blog...) - also, I use a fan oven, if you dont have a fan, you should go with about 200C.
Also, my cupcake recipes DELIBERATELY go easy on the baking powder (I just cant stand the taste) which so many others use as a raising agent and since I prefer to use real chocolate rather than cocoa powder, the dough will by nature be more dense.
kind regards
johanna

[lexi]

kiss my ass it is uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh