Wednesday November 3rd: Chocolate Cupcakes Filled With Mint-Chocolate Ganache and Topped with Mint Buttercream Frosting



photo by wvs


This Wednesday's recipe comes from http://cupcakeblog.com/. The cupcakes looked and sounded amazing, and the recipe seemed simple enough. The website is by one woman who creates all these cupcakes herself. The chocolate batter turned out extremely thick which I was not prepared for, and I'm not sure I filled the cupcake trays full enough because they rose and then fell when I took them out of the oven. The majority of my cupcakes turned out like brownies. Regardless, they were still very edible. The ganache was easy to make but the recipe called for me to add chopped mint as one of the last steps, and while I thought it was weird I did it. I ended up picking through it while I filled the cupcakes because some of the pieces were too large. I assumed people didnt want to discover a piece of grassy mint in their cupcake while eating it. The butter cream icing was easy and delicious. I added some green food colouring so that I didn't need anything more to garnish the cupcake with to make it look chocolate/minty. Overall I would say that these "two-bite brownie chocolate mint cupcakes" came out somewhat successfully.

photo by wvs

Here's how to make them:

Chocolate Cupcakes Filled With Mint-Chocolate Ganache and Topped with Mint Buttercream Frosting (Makes 24)

Chocolate Cupcakes
350 degree oven
200 gram bar of Valrhona 61% cocao
3 sticks butter
2-1/4 cups sugar
8 eggs
1-1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

Chop chocolate and melt with butter. Once melted together, remove from heat and stir in sugar. Let this cool for 10 minutes before beating with an electric mixer for 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time beating in between each addition. Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and a pinch of salt and then add that into mixtureand mix until blended.
Scoop into cupcake cups (fill at least 3/4 of the way) and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate-Mint Ganache
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

Chop chocolate and transfer into a heat proof bowl. Heat cream and 1/4 cup mint until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream through strainer, over the chocolate.
3. let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.
4. add butter and the remaining teaspoon of chopped mint and stir until combined.
5. let cool then transfer to the refrigerator to thicken, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Mint Buttercream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon all natural peppermint extract
Green food colouring
Beat butter until cream and then add 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar, milk, food colouring and peppermint extract, beat until combined. Add more sugar if needed.

Once cupcakes have cooled, cut a hole in the center and scoop out a hole to fill with the ganache. Frost.