Boil water and add the cocoa powder.
Remove from flame and stir it fast to get a smooth paste.
Allow it to cool.
Beat sugar and butter until soft and fluffy.
Add the apple puree and 1/3 cup of sour cream*.
Beat well. The mixture may look curdled but it is fine.
Add the prepared cocoa mixture and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Add flour and the remaining sour cream alternately and mix with a wooden spoon gently.
Grease a muffin tray and fill the moulds with batter.
Preheat oven to 175C.
Bake the cakes for 10-15 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Invert the tray onto a wire rack and allow the cakes to cool completely.
Finish off with the remaining batter.
Divide the cakes into two. One batch is used for the bottom layer while the other forms the top layer.
Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until smooth.
Remove from heat and place it on a cloth.
Inver one batch of cupcakes top side down on a wire rack and coat them completely with the molten chocolate. It will harden with in minutes.
Take some melted chocolate in a paper cone and draw out 12-15 handles on a butter paper. Draw another line over the first one (once the first line is hard) to make the handles a bit firmer.
Allow it to harden.
In the second batch of cupcakes, remove a portion from the bottom using a sharp pointed knife. Insert the knife at an angle to the centre and make a round incision keeping the centre same. You will be able to remove a conical piece of the cake from the bottom.
Mix butter, sugar, vanilla essence and a few drops of milk to make a creamy butter cream.
Make a paper cone and transfer the butter cream to the cone.
Snip off the end of the cone and pipe the butter cream into the cup cake to fill the cut out portion.
Now melt the chocolate again and apply it on the top of the chocoale coated cupcakes.
Place the butter cream filled cup cakes on top.
Pipe a chocolate line around the butter cream.
Gently peel the handle from the butter paper and place it on the chocolate line.
Hold it until the chocolate hardens.
Arrange on a plate and serve.
You can also refrigerate it and serve it later.
* As I don't get sour cream in Madurai, I make sour cream as explained below. Collect the cream formed on top of milk after it boils and cools. And then add a teaspoon of curd to it and allow it to sit over night. It would set like curd. Now keep on adding cream every day and refrigerate. When a bowl full of cream is collected, remove the bowl from fridge and place it on counter and leave it overnight. The next day you will end up with sour cream. You can also buy a pack of fresh cream and add a teaspoon of curd to it. Let it set overnight. The next day you can use it in place of sour cream.
