Once again I made these a LONG time ago and never got around to posting them. There was no recipe inspiration or anything. I was just having a chocolate fit and tried to figure out how I could get the most chocolate into one cupcake. This is what I came up with. Chocolate cake, filled with chocolate ganache, dipped in chocolate ganache, topped with chocolate buttercream and chocolate sprinkles.
I made these back in April and I didn’t have any special tool to make the hole for the ganache. So I was looking around in the drawers and came across this:
Why yes, yes that is a pumpkin carving tool! But it worked really really well. So people…improvise!
To get my two types of ganache, one thick to fill and one still melted for dipping, I just made the ganache, kept the one I wanted to use for dipping on the stove and then put a separate bowl of it in an ice bath and whisked it until it was cool and thick. Then I filled the cupcakes as quick as I could. By the time I dipped the last one the melted ganache was getting hard but it all worked out!
I did have to use a knife to spread the filled ganache nice and even otherwise there was a little part that stuck up. Not that it really truly matters because you will be covering it with a buttercream but I guess I’m just weird and wanted it flat.
If you need a chocolate fix, this is will do it. A glass of milk and you’re in dessert heaven.
Cake Recipe
- 2 cups sugar
- 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup boiling water
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared cupcake tins.
Ganache
- 8 ounces chocolate (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
Chocolate buttercream
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 3 teaspoons vanilla
Melt chocolate in microwave, checking after each 30 second interval to make sure you do not burn the chocolate. Stir and let cool. (I totally don’t use a microwave. I’ve burned too much chocolate doing that. I used the stove)
Using the paddle attachment on a Mixmaster or using a hand beater, beat the butter and chocolate together until smooth. Add 2 cups of the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the milk. Cream these ingredients until well blended. Add the rest of the sugar and the milk and combine. Add the vanilla and mix in.