Melanie Sabol – Copy Editor
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, try out these cupcakes from Lemon-sugar.com
One-bowl cupcakes with quick buttercream and a molten ganache filling. It will look like you slaved over gourmet cupcakes for days, but actually you spent less than an hour in the kitchen. Happy Valentine’s Day to you, from me. Well, from me and Martha Stewart, but still.
These cupcakes are a snap to put together. They really take just a few minutes to whip up, a few minutes in the oven, and while they’re cooling you can make the frosting. EASY! And while I fancied these up with a little heart marshmallow on a toothpick and pink cupcake papers, these certainly aren’t just for Valentine’s Day.
While we’re here, we really should chat about this frosting for a minute. There’s something about a whipped buttercream frosting that’s just better than the rest. It’s a bit lighter, a bit creamier, and not quite as over-the-top sweet. It isn’t as pretty as a traditional buttercream or a Swiss meringue buttercream, but you won’t care when you taste it.
But the best part about this cute little cupcake? When you bite into it, there’s just a bit of molten chocolate. The ganache is just thin enough that it stays smooth and creamy, a nice surprise and rounds out the flavors of chocolate cake and vanilla frosting.
PREP TIME: 30 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME: 60 MINUTES
YIELD: APPROX. 24 CUPCAKES
INGREDIENTS
Cupcakes:
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs at room temperature if possible
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk (or use regular milk with 2 Tablespoons of vinegar added, wait 5 minutes to curdle)
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped Vanilla Buttercream:
1 and 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter at cool room temperature
6 cups confectioners sugar
1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup half and half
Molten Ganache Filling:
1/2 cup heavy cream
10 ounces chopped chocolate
INSTRUCTIONS
Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare cupcake pans with cupcake papers, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix (with a hand mixer) until smooth, about three minutes.
5. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
6. Fill each cupcake paper approximately 2/3 full.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched lightly. Do not overbake.
8. Transfer to a wire rack, carefully remove from tins and let cool completely.
Frosting:
9. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy.
10. Add powdered sugar, cream and vanilla extract, and beat on low until just moistened and combined.
11. Add half and half, and beat to combine.
12. Turn speed up to medium-high, and beat for five minutes or until fluffy and whipped.
13. Frost as desired.
Filling
14. In a small bowl, heat cream in microwave until steaming hot but not boiling.
15. Pour chocolate chips into hot cream, allow to sit for two minutes.
16. Stir chocolate until smooth. This will take a couple of minutes, while the heat of the cream melts all of the chocolate.
17. Place chocolate in a small piping bag with a small star tip, and inject tip into tops of cupcakes. Squeeze gently to push chocolate filling into cake. Repeat for all cupcakes.
28. Enjoy!
