Chocolate Cupcakes with Burnt Sugar German Buttercream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cupcake pan with parchment cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, espresso powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

To the dry ingredients, add the oil, milk, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla, and mix until fully combined.

Mix in the freshly boiled water.

Transfer the batter to the cupcake pan, filling each about ⅔ full.

Bake the cupcakes for about 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease with butter.

Heat granulated sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.

Once it begins to bubble, increase the heat to medium-high and swirl the sugar (do not stir) to encourage even cooking.

After about 10 minutes, it will turn amber in color. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in the baking soda. It will bubble up a lot.

Pour into the prepared pan, careful not to deflate the bubbles.

Allow to cool completely before breaking into pieces and blending into a powder.

Start with the pastry cream - heat the milk and vanilla extract in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer or about 200 degrees F.

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together for 2-3 minutes until light in color.

Once the milk is simmering, slowly pour half into the egg-sugar mixture, whisking at the same time to temper the eggs.

Pour everything back into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, whisking constantly. After a couple minutes, a layer of bubbles will form over the top and it will begin to thicken.

Once the bubbles disappear, continue whisking for one more minute, then remove from heat.

Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly up against the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill overnight.

Make the buttercream by beating the pastry cream for about 10 minutes on low speed until it warms up to about 70 degrees.

Add the butter, a few cubes at a time, and beat on medium speed. If it looks curdled at all, continue beating on low speed until smooth.

Blend the burnt sugar into a powder and add to the buttercream, mixing until fully combined.

Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag with a medium star tip.

Once the cupcakes are completely cool, pipe rosettes onto each cupcake.