02/12/10

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes.

How do they sound?

Well, if you love chocolate and your mouth is watering just over seeing these pictures, then you would LOVE these cupcakes.


I made these last night (with a bit of Mikayla's help before she had to go to bed) for their class' Valentine party today. Kevin helped me find this scrumptious recipe.

Oh, Goodness.

Here is the recipe from Ina Garten. (Food Network)

Ingredients for cupcake:
1/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
11 fluid ounces Hershey's chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Ingredients for ganache:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. (I don't have one of these so I just used my hand mixer and we were A-OK.) Add the eggs, one a time. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Add the flour and coffee granules and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat, or the cupcakes will be tough. (Once I saw I had mixed till combined I used my spatula to make sure the rest was fully combined.)

Scoop the batter into the muffin cups (I used a 1/3 measuring cup... perfect!) and bake for 30 minutes, or until just set in the middle. Don't overbake! Let cool thoroughly in the muffin pan.

For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally.

Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the ganache. Place the cupcakes on a baking rack with wax paper underneath in case there are drips. Place in a container or a box with sides tall enough to cover the area of the cupcakes.

Do not refrigerate.

You can add something to the top that goes with the season you are celebrating. We used cinnamon hearts since it was for Valentine's Day.