A Small Bite-Big Flavor

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. 

-Rabindranath Yagore

Spring Special-Cupcake a la Mode 
Cook's Notes: The concept of this recipe caught my attention. A small cupcake topped with ice  cream, drizzled with caramel sauce and sprinkled with toasted almonds seemed  easy and simple to put together. But then as I read further into the recipe the cupcake got even better. It is flourless gluten free with a dense chocolate taste. The texture is spongy and reminds me of a lava cake. A scoop of ice cream turns a fudgy flourless chocolate cupcake into a celebration worthy dessert. I suppose you could shortcut the recipe by using a box cupcake mix but then you'd miss the yummy delicious flavor found in this recipe. 
The recipe is adapted from Southern Living April 2017. 

Cooking Tips:To help the cupcake rise nice and high in the pan make sure the eggs are at room temperature and don't over whip them. I used a standard 12 cup muffin tin. The recipe makes 12 cupcakes. The centers will deflate some as they cool and best eaten the day they are made.   
Ingredients:

• 1-1/4 cups dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate chips (8 oz.) 
• 6 TB. butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/8 tsp.salt
• 1/4 tsp.espresso powder
• 5 large eggs at room temperature
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ice cream-vanilla or fudge ripple
• jarred caramel topping
• 1/3 cup toasted almonds  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
• Separate egg whites and yolks into two different bowls. 
• Place chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high until mixture is melted about 1 minute. Stir every 15 seconds. Stir in vanilla, salt and espresso powder. Use a whisk to mix well. Cool slightly and whisk in egg yolks. Set aside to cool. Add creme of tartar to the egg whites and beat until soft mounds appear. Add in sugar a few tablespoons at a time. Beat until stiff mounds appear. Fold chocolate mixture into the egg white mixture 1/3 cup at a time using as spatula.  
• Bake for 30 minutes until centers are set. Cool on a wire rack and remove wrappers to serve. 
• Top each cupcake with a small scoop of ice cream, drizzle of caramel sauce and sprinkle with toasted almonds. 

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Blue-Butterfly Day 

by Robert Frost

It was a blue-butterfly day here in spring.

And with these sky-flakes down in flurry on flurry

There is more unmixed color on the wing

Than flowers will show for days unless they hurry. 

 But these are flowers that fly and all but sing:

And now from having ridden out desire

They lie closed over in the wind and cling

Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire. 

mire:a stretch of swampy or boggy ground.