Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Cupcake with Milk Chocolate Ganache

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Devil's Food Cupcake with Ghirardelli Empress Frosting

So, I made some cupcakes this weekend for the youth group event at church.  I'd like to say I did it out of the goodness of my heart, but really, I just wanted to take some pics and blog about them.  What I forgot, though, was that when I'm working with a deadline and new recipes, I shouldn't expect the final product to turn out gorgeous.  Not that these are ugly, but the peanut butter cupcakes aren't what I'd envisioned, and those were the ones I was really looking forward to trying.  They ARE delicious, just not as photo-worthy as I'd hoped.

The only recipe I'm including is for the whipped milk chocolate ganache because I think I can provide links for the other frostings and the peanut butter cupcake.  Plus, I used good ol' Betty Crocker boxed mixes for the vanilla and chocolate cupcakes.  When you're making three kinds of cupcakes in one night, you don't want to hassle with too much.  Well, I know that I don't want to hassle with too much.

The peanut butter cupcake recipe comes from my old standby allrecipes.com:  http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Peanut-Butter-Cupcakes/Detail.aspx.  I was wondering if they'd turn out with a tender crumb because the recipe calls for all-purpose flour, not cake flour.  They were perfectly tender and peanut-buttery.  They tasted like a very fluffy peanut butter cookie.  They are quite sweet, but not too sweet for me.  I used butter instead of shortening, but other than that, I think I followed the recipe.  The tops of my cupcakes were on the flat side, but I figure the next time I make them, I'll just make twice the amount of whipped ganache and pile it high.  That recipe I will post below.  Oh, and the cute little peanut butter cup on top is one of Reese's new "Minis."
P.S. on the peanut butter cupcake: the next day I tried eating one of these cupcakes and it just tasted weird.  I don't know how to describe it, but it was bad enough to spit out the bite I'd taken.  They taste great the day after baking, but beyond that, I say, "Don't do it."

The vanilla cupcake was Betty Crocker.  The frosting recipe comes from allrecipes.com: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cake-with-Buttercream-Decorating-Frosting/Detail.aspx.  This recipe makes a TON.  I halved the recipe and still had about 3/4 cup left over after generously frosting 24 cupcakes.  To make the frosting vanilla beany, I scraped 3/4 of a vanilla pod brought to a simmer in about 1/3 cup half & half.  Then I refrigerated that overnight and used that as part of the milk.  

The chocolate cupcake was Betty Crocker.  The frosting recipe is the one I use for brownies: http://food-pusher.blogspot.com/2010/08/brownies-delicious-brownies.html.  It's smooth, rich, and tastes like a soft dark fudge.  I like to eat it with a spoon.  One recipe frosts 24 cupcakes nicely.

Now for the milk chocolate ganache recipe.  I'll give you the doubled recipe that I think would create plenty to generously frost 24 cupcakes.

Whipped Milk Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

• 60 unwrapped Dove Milk Chocolate Promises
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 4 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

Place unwrapped chocolate into the bowl of a standing mixer.  You could chop them up, but I found it wasn't really necessary.

Bring the cream and butter to a simmer over medium heat.

Pour hot cream over chocolate and allow to sit for 5-8 minutes.

With a whisk, stir chocolate & cream until smooth and all the chocolate is melted.

Allow to chill in the refrigerator until very cold.  You could also place it in the freezer for 2-3 hours, I suppose.  

Once chilled, whip the ganache with the whip attachment on your mixer.  Try not to over-beat.  Too much air makes it too fluffy and weird.  Plus, beating it too long might produce chocolate butter, which I'm sure would be delicious, just not on a cupcake. 

I tried piping the whipped ganache, but it was too thick and cold, and the heat from my hands caused it to curdle.  In the end, I just scooped the ganache with a cookie scoop and smoothed with an offset spatula.  I'll have to find some other way to make it pretty.