Monday, March 15, 2010

Chocolate Filled Cupcakes


I was really bored this weekend, so I made about 7 recipes, including shortbread, homemade pasta, biscuts, apple pie, olive cheese bread, and of course, these. They are vanilla cupcakes filled with chocolate cream, topped with a chocolate ganache, which is then dipped in chocolate. They are pretty dang delicious. And relatively easy, since they start with a homemade cake mix.

So here is the recipe (I came up with it myself!!)

Ingredients:
1 boxed cake mix + any materials called for on the box
24 ox chocolate chips.
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbs honey
3 tbs flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. half and half
2 tsp. vanilla
5 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs vegetable shortening

Directions:
1. Make the cupcakes as directed, set aside to cool completely


For the Chocolate Creme:
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the flour, salt, sugar, and half n half.

2. Let cook, whisking continuously until smooth.

3. take about 1/2 cup of the mixture and combine it with the egg yolks, CONSTANTLY
WHISKING (this is called tempering, if you don't whisk it, the eggs will cook, and that is gross, we don't want scrambled eggs in our chocolate creme.)

4. When this mixture is smooth, pour it into the saucepan and start whisking again, when it is smooth, whisk while cooking for about 3 minutes until thickened.

5. Add in about 2/3 cups of the chocolate chips, and the vanilla. Mix it untill smooth. (For a vanilla creme, just leave out the chocolate chips)

6. Put this creme into a bowl, put the bowl in the fridge, and let it chill.

For the Chocolate Ganache
1. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer.

2. Pour it over 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips and add 1tbs. honey. Mix until smooth and shiny.

3. Set aside, it's time to fill the cupcakes!

For the Assembly of Everything:
1. Fill a ziploc baggie with the chilled chocolate creme, and cut off a small corner of the bag.

2. Take a paring knife, and just like hulling a strawberry, cut a cone out of the middle of the cupcake.

3. Fill the hole with the creme.

4. Cut the bottom off the cone, and replace the top on the cupcake.

5. Using a spoon, spoon some ganache over the top of the cupcake. It doesn't have to cover the entire thing, or be perfect, since we are going to cover it with chocolate soon anyway. Mine just looked like a blob.

6. Put the cupcakes in the fridge to chill and harden the ganache.

For the Chocolate Top:
1. Take about 3 tbs of chocolate chips and set aside.

2. Melt the rest of the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, and when it is all melted add about 1 tbs vegetable shortening.

3. Stir until the shortening is mixed in.

4. Take a cupcake, hold it upside down, and dip the top into the chocolate. Let the drips drip off, and set down. Place one chocolate chip in the middle for decoration.

5. Repeat with all of the cupcakes.

6. Put Cupcakes in the fridge and let the chocolate harden.

7. Eat!


These are yummy, and I made them because they travel well. I was sick of the ganache/buttercream getting all smeared. The chocolate shell is really yummy too!

They can be made with any kind of variation. Maybe a chocolate cupcake with vanilla creme (just leave out the chocolate chips to make vanilla creme) and a white chocolate ganache with a white chocolate coating. You could easily use buttercream instead of ganache underneath the chocolate too, but if you do that, make a thin-ish layer so the chocolate doesn't smash. Happy Eating!

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