The recipe that brings the most hits to this blog is Red Wine Cupcakes. I couldn’t believe it when I found that images from that post are all over Pinterest. I actually have to double-take before recognising my own photos. Searching Google images brings up a number of familiar photos, on page one even! That’s probably totally biased towards where the searcher is located… but meh, I’m not going to deny myself a little encouragement.

That post happened to be a rather personal one, about preparing for our move from New Zealand to Northern Canada, packing our lives into a suitcase, selling our possessions and trying to stay mentally sane about such a big lifestyle change. Snow? Wearing animal fur? All night sunlight switching to all day darkness? Town of 900? Temperatures up to 40˚C below what I’d consider normal? Spelling moustache as mustache? Importing groceries via plane from supermarkets miles away? No more Pineapple Lumps and Flat Whites? Yea, big lifestyle change.

That post seems so long ago, yet I haven’t made those cupcakes since.

I changed that, early yesterday morning, for the sake of Movember. With plenty of support for the notorious moustache mustache amongst the pilots at work, I thought a wee fundraiser was necessary, to bring awareness to what Movember is all about. Other than growing a filthy lip rug.

So I rose early before work to create a couple of different treats to share in exchange for a donation, including a batch of my favorite cupcakes. Only the best ingredients – super dark (80% cocoa) chocolate and quality red wine, topped with a tangy, and not-too-sweet cream cheese icing.

And completed with little chocolate mustaches – inspired by Mel over at Hearts Abroad – in celebration of the month and to raise funds for men’s health.

Chocolate Red Wine Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes
Makes 12

As I said earlier, use only the best ingredients. Quality dark chocolate, a good cocoa powder and a flavorful red wine will produce irresistibly rich, dark cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcake:

50g dark chocolate (72%) broken into small pieces
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup red wine

120g butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C. Place liners in cupcake pan cavities.

2. Place chopped chocolate into a medium-sized heatproof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate is melted. Take off the heat and mix in cocoa and red wine until smooth.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs until well blended. Sift in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined. Add the chocolate-red wine mixture and mix thoroughly until batter is smooth.

4. Divide batter among cupcake liners. It will fill 12 cavities about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes. They should be firm in the center and feel slightly springy to the touch. Allow to cool completely before icing with cream cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Icing:

125g cream cheese (half an 8-ounce block), softened
1/4 cup butter (about 50g), softened
1 cup icing sugar
dash vanilla essence

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Sift in icing sugar, add vanilla essence and beat well until smooth and fluffy. Transfer to piping bag. Pipe onto cupcakes and smooth down with a wet knife.

Chocolate Mustaches:

75 – 100g dark chocolate

Melt chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until most of the chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat and stir until remaining chunks melt and chocolate is smooth. If you want shiny mustaches that don’t become dull on drying, you can temper the chocolate as per instructions on the peanut butter cups post. It’s much simpler than it sounds, requiring just a little more time and a candy thermometer.

Transfer chocolate to ziplock bag and snip off a tiny corner. Pipe onto baking paper with a printed mustache template (I used this one) showing through from underneath. Use a stick or skewer to push the chocolate into the edges and corners. Let dry – I had to do another layer to get them thick enough to not snap when peeled off. With great care, peel off baking paper and arrange on frosted cupcakes.