Chocolatey Chocolate Cupcakes

This week I was fortunate enough to meet up with Sally from CakeAway.  She had made some absolutely delicious cupcakes with a chocolate frosting that melted in your mouth.  I was in heaven! What made this cupcake absolutely wonderful was the thick, smooth, chocolate frosting. Definitely not from Betty Crocker!  She said the frosting was Ganache.  Some of you may already know what Ganache is.  I hadn’t heard of this term “Ganache.”   Ganache is a rich chocolate filling that is used in pastries, cakes and for frosting.  So whilst I may not have heard that term, turns out I have been eating it for years!  It is “simple” to make as it has only 2 ingredients: Chocolate and Cream.   I tell you, it makes all the difference.  Cupcakes go from Yum to WOW with this frosting.

Now you can try it at home.  We are lucky to have Sally share with us her Chocolate Cupcake Recipe with Ganache Frosting:

 

For the cupcakes:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup hot water

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Place your paper cups in your cupcake tin and lightly spray with baking spray.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Sift the cocoa into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs and vanilla; stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture all at once and stir just until all the flour is moistened. Pour the hot water over the batter; stir just until it’s incorporated and the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Don’t fill the cups to the max.
4.  Bake about 30 to 35 minutes or till toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

For the Ganache:

For milk and dark chocolate the ratio is 2:1
400 gms 52% dark chocolate
200 gms whipping cream

1. Break your chocolate into cubes in a microwaveable bowl.
2. Heat the whipping cream and remove from heat just before it boils.
3. Pour it on chocolate and cover with cling film for few minutes.
4. Give it a good whisk and make sure it’s lumps free until smooth and shiny.
5. Cover again in cling film and leave it room temperature till next day.
6. When ready to pipe, give it a good whisk or use your hand mixer to whip it then pipe it onto your cupcakes.

Note: if your ganache is lumpy microwave it for 10 sec intervals and whisk good in between.

Enjoy!

 

If you like this recipe and have found it useful, please let us know.  We will come up with ways to bribe Sally to give us more!

Also if you are looking for a cake for that special occasion, be sure to stop by Sally’s page CakeAway.