Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Better Than Sex Cupcakes

Excuse me while I tantalize you again.  However, I do have an excuse for today's post!  These cupcakes were made with my sister Charlee's birthday in mind, even though we don't share the same postal code.  She will have to come up and get them!  Hahaha....seriously.  Char-I will have to bake for you when you come up next!  Her birthday was over the weekend, and it sounds like she was spoiled rotten.  Her amazing fiancé planned a lovely day in Victoria Orca whale watching......pretty sweet if you ask me.  It sounded like a lot of fun, I was slightly jealous.  As for me,  we went to our local farmers market (my first time this year) and of course, garage sailing!  We also took Panu, our Blue Canoe out for the first time in 2 years.  It was great, I can't wait to go again next weekend:)

A few pictures I wanted to share with you :)

(L-R)-Myself, Charlee and Marlina last year (our only decent picture together...need to get more!)

This is Panu. Panu, Meet water. It's been 2 years!

Our beautiful blue canoe-she's an 'oldie but a goodie' 

Back to the cupcakes.  They earned their title "Better than Sex Cupcakes" with good reason.  For any chocolate fanatic out there, these are for you!  I made these cupcakes plenty of times last year (I was also going through a major cupcake phase) and loved them a little too much.  Sure, they take a little bit of work, but not too horribly much, in my opinion.  There is lots of different types of chocolate in them-cocoa powder, semi sweet, dark, milk and white....can you seriously go wrong?  I doubt it.  These cupcakes are definitely a must for any chocoholic.  The only alterations I made for this recipe was to substitute the mousse recipe for another-I didn't have enough eggs, but did have lots of leftover heavy cream and found one that used it all up.  I had e-mailed Stef over at The Cupcake Project to ensure it was okay if I used her recipe and she graciously responded that yes-Thank you again! Be sure to visit her blog.  And make these cupcakes ASAP.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week! <3

Better Than Sex Cupcakes

Makes 16-18

INGREDIENTS

For the Cupcakes:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the Chocolate Mousse:

2 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 tablespoons hot water
7 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Dark Chocolate Ganache

4 oz of dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1/3 C heavy cream

For the White Chocolate Drizzle

4 oz of white chocolate, chopped into small pieces

DIRECTIONS

For the Cupcake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with liners. Beat the butter until softened, then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time and beat until well combined.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a small sized bowl until combined.

Mix together the milk and vanilla, stirring to combine.

Add in the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine. Stir in half the milk/vanilla mixture and combine well. Continue to alternate, finishing with the dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter into the prepared cupcake liners, filling each to 1/2-2/3 full.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Chocolate Mousse:

In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and water and set aside. Place the chocolate in  a medium bowl. Set the bowl over a small saucepan with simmering water, stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool, about 5 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip the cream, sugar and salt at medium speed until slightly thickened, approximately 30 seconds-1 minute. Increase the speed to high and continue whipping until soft peaks form. Whisk the cocoa mixture into the chocolate until smooth. Fold 1/3 of whipped cream in the melted chocolate mixture to lighten it. With a rubber spatula, continue to fold in the remaining cream until combined and no white streaks remain.

Makes about 3 cups...you will have some leftover!

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, use a small pairing knife to cut a cone into the cupcake. Spoon the chocolate mousse into the whole replace the top-if it's uneven, don't worry, the chocolate ganache will smooth things out.

For the Dark Chocolate Ganache:

Place the chocolate in a small glass bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the cream until it just starts to boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted. While it is still warm, spread a thin layer of it over the cupcakes. It will harden when it cools.

For the White Chocolate Drizzle:

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or by stove. Once melted, place in a disposable pastry bag or a plastic sandwich bag and cut a small hole at the tip of the bag. Decorate as desired!

Eat and Repeat:)

Source: slightly adapted from The Cupcake Project (Cupcake, Ganache, Drizzle) and Cook like a Champion (Mousse)