Chocolate Ganache Cupcake Recipe

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes-from America's Test Kitchen


Ganache filling:
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/4 c heavy cream
1 Tbsp confectioner's sugar


Chocolate cupcakes:
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/3 c (1 oz) dutch-processed cocoa
3/4 c hot coffee
3/4 c (4 1/8 oz) bread flour
3/4 c (5 1/4 oz) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 recipe frosting (I have a good one for buttercream and chocolate buttercream if you need)


For Ganache filling:
Place chocolate, cream, and confectioner's sugar in medium microwave-safe bowl.  Heat in microwave for 20-30 seconds.  Whisk until smooth;transfer bowl to refrigerator and let stand until just chilled, no longer than 30 minutes.


For cupcakes:  
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350.  Line standard size muffin pan with baking-cup liners.  Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl.  Pour hot coffee over mixture and whisk until smooth.  Set in fridge to cool completely, about 20 minutes.  Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl;set aside.  Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla into cooled chocolate-cocoa mixture until smooth.  Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth.  Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups.  Place one slightly rounded teaspoon of the ganache filling on top of each cupcake.  Bake until cupcakes are set and just firm to touch, 17-19 minutes.  Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.  Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack.  Cool to room temperature before frosting, about 1 hour.


Recommended bittersweet chocolate:  Ghiradelli bittersweet baking bar
Recommended dutch processed cocoa:  Ghiradelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa

Not Martha Stewart, but I have fun trying!

Lots of fun times in the Eframo household lately!  We've had our fair share of this darn cold getting passed from one family member to the next, to the next, and then back to the original pint-sized preschooler who this bug has originated from.  It amazes me the amount of little bugs that make their way through a preschool classroom and end up infecting most of the family.  I guess the flu shot is a must this season!  So as several of us have been battling boogers and nasty coughs we have been able to get a lot of good ol' family time in.  Mostly consisting of sibling fights, an occasional board game, too much TV, and cupcakes galore....I like to bake when I get bored :).  And baking in our household is nothing like the experiences I see Martha Stewart having in her kitchen!  There's Christian shoveling in the chocolate chips quicker than I can measure them out and Rowan who has quite the ability to sniff out cupcake batter from beyond the fridge door and lick her way through all of our hard work to keep that batter germ free.  And just when we are finally able to get those puppies frosted I ask Brittain why the frosting is a giant, heaping clump that I can't even manage to spread.  "Uhhhhhhh, well, maybe I put in a little more powdered sugar than I was supposed to?"  Well, yes, adding 3 cups instead of the 1 cup the recipe called for will make that frosting a little difficult to work with.  The more sugar, the better, according to Brittain!  Needless to say, our cupcakes were not the prettiest, but they were delicious!  Every last crumb was eaten, even from the cupcake labeled "POOP" that Brittain cleverly decorated by adding a giant pile of very sugary chocolate frosting to.  After the hyperness wore off and the last cupcake was eaten, it was fun to look back and laugh at the experience of such novice bakers!  I wouldn't trade it for the world!  I will post this cupcake recipe for all of you to enjoy.  I hope you and your family have as much fun making them as ours did!  Happy Baking!