Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes

This was a tasty little treat I made for my job's Christmas party. Rich chocolate, sweet red wine... mmm.

Cupcake ingredients:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
5 oz chocolate chips
1/2 cup boiling water
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup red wine (I used a shiraz)

In heat-proof bowl, combine cocoa powder and chocolate chips. Pour in the boiling water and stir with a whisk until chocolate is all melted. In larger bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until all mixed. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture until well combined. Add some of the liquid chocolate, followed by some of the wine, alternating until all of it is blended. Pour into lined muffin tins, a little more full than normal because they don't rise much. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then let cool before frosting.

For the frosting, I just made a basic cream cheese (8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter, tablespoon vanilla, and enough powdered sugar to get it to the right consistency). Decorate with some red sprinkles.

These were dense and rich and you could definitely taste the wine. A unique taste, but really good!