Chocolate cupcakes with red wine

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 1 cup premium flour
• 0.5 tsp of soda
• 0.5 tsp fine salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 0.5 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Red wine syrup

• 2 cups red wine
• 1/4 cup sugar

Ganache

• 60 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
   
   
   When measuring flour, spoon it into a dry measuring cup and remove any excess. Scooping flour directly from the bag with a measuring cup will compact it, resulting in dry baked goods.
2. Cupcakes:
   
   In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the milk until just barely simmering, then pour it over the cocoa powder in the large bowl. Stir until smooth and cool slightly. Add the sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and egg and whisk until smooth. Add the flour mixture and use a silicone spatula to mix into a smooth dough (do not overmix).
3. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin pans. Bake until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20-22 minutes. Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool further, about 20 minutes.
4. Prepare wine syrup:
   
   Meanwhile, combine the wine and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the wine to 0.5 cups, 12-15 minutes. Pour the wine syrup into a small bowl. While the cupcakes are still slightly warm, pierce the tops of each cupcake twice with a fork and drizzle with the wine syrup. Set the remaining wine syrup aside.
5. Ganache:
   
   Pour the cream into the saucepan used for the wine syrup and bring to a simmer. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour in the hot cream and stir until smooth. Add the remaining wine syrup and stir until smooth. Let the ganache cool until it thickens slightly to the consistency of heavy cream, about 3 minutes.
6. Spoon 1 tablespoon of ganache onto each cupcake and spread it evenly with the back of a spoon. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and let the ganache set for about 15 minutes.