Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Heaven is a Chocolate Cupcake

Hey, I won't lie. This time I used a boxed cake mix to make the cupcakes. Purists can scoff if they want, but you don't need to go out of your way to make an enjoyable treat. Besides, I'm no food snob. I just know what tastes good.

Anyway, I went with a box of Duncan Hines Swiss Chocolate cake mix and made it as per instructions, then added two tablespoons of sour cream. I don't remember where I learned this from, but ever since I am a fan of sour cream in cake mix. Not only does it add a nice tang, it makes the cake incredibly smooth and moist, and balances the overt sweetness of boxed mixes.

As for the ganache topping and chocolate shaving, it's simply chocolate and heavy cream:
  • 1/4 cup (4 ounces) of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped up
  • 1/4 cup of heavy cream (you can use half-n-half, but it won't be as rich tasting
  • 1/2 ounce block of chocolate, shaved or grated, saved for topping
  1. In a sauce pot, bring heavy cream to a rolling boil, then turn off heat.
  2. Add in the 1/4 cup chopped chocolate pieces and stir until all the chocolate is melted. You'll know it's done when the cream and chocolate turns a dark brown shiny texture and you don't taste the powder from the chocolate.
  3. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
  4. Drop about a teaspoon per (cooled) cupcake, then use a spatula (or butter knife) to spread out the chocolate in a circle. (Easiest way is to have the spatula steady, sit the cupcake on the table, and turn the cupcake instead.)
  5. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings on top of the ganache to finish! (Use a spoon, otherwise your fingers will melt the chocolate.)
I happened to have a microplane zester (another one of Chris' toys) to shave the chocolate. If you don't have one, you're fine using a veggie peeler, which will give you chocolate curls instead.

1 comment:

Yvo Sin said...

that looks delicious! i have a potentially stupid question. I've never made cupcakes before. yours look so perfectly formed and even and stuff. did you just drop cupcake liners into muffin tins? thanks!!!

http://feistyfoodie.blogspot.com (because you don't allow anonymous comments, and i can't log into beta to comment on your site)