Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Frosting

I was in charge of making cupcakes for a friend's baby shower and chocolate was the requested flavor.  Since I've yet to find a chocolate cake & frosting recipe I was crazy about, I went exploring.  I ended up combining several different recipes and the result was fantastic!  (I forgot to get a picture, but luckily a friend took one!)



Chocolate Cupcakes
(borrowed from Annie's Eats)

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tbsp. instant coffee granules
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
1½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
¾ cup warm water
¾ cup buttermilk
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.   Line standard cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a large mixing bowl combine the cocoa powder, instant coffee, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk well to blend.  Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high speed until smooth, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full.  Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. 


Whipped Ganache Frosting

8oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp instant coffee granules

Put chocolate and instant coffee in a heat-proof bowl.  Heat cream to a slight boil.  Pour cream over chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.  Cool 2 hours.  Transfer ganache to a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk on high until fluffy.  If you mix too long, it may turn grainy- you can remedy this by warming the ganache up, stirring until smooth, and letting cool again.

I used a Wilton tip 1M to frost the cupcakes.  The red swirls are just a tube of Wilton sparkle gel  :)


What I might do differently: 
The cupcakes weren't quite as moist as I'd like them to be (I'm extra picky).  Next time, I will probably make a simple syrup (1 part sugar to 1 part water, brought to a boil) to pour over them after poking holes with a toothpick.

Posted by:  Tabitha

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