Prep Time : 15 minutes Cook Time : 20 minutes Serves 24

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For Crust:
Place chocolate graham cracker sticks in a food processor. Process until they resemble coarse sand. Add sugar, and process until sugar is incorporated. Slowly add melted butter until mixture resembles a crumbly wet sand.

Line 2 - 12 muffin pans with muffin cups (24).
Gently press about 2 tbsp of cookie crust into the bottom of each muffin cup. Crust should be about 1/4 an inch thick. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

For Batter:
In an electric mixer, beat together cream cheese, flour, sugar and zest until smooth. Add eggs and yolk, one at a time, scraping sides of the bowl as you go. Add vanilla and beat until well incorporated.

Fill each muffin cup with batter all the way to the top of the muffin cup. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight.

For Frosting:
Remove cupcakes from refrigerator. Combine chocolate and Gran Marnier (if desired) in a small bowl. Heat cream just to a boil. Remove from heat and pour cream over chocolate. Let sit for 2 minutes. Stir together cream and chocolate until mixture resembles a smooth dark, thick chocolate. Spoon 1 tbsp of chocolate into the center of each cupcake. Sprinkle with slivered almonds and serve.