UPDATE: I'm reposting this as a part of Tasty Tuesday at my blogging friend, Jen's amazing blog: Balancing Beauty & Bedlam.
Do these cupcakes bring back memories for you? Are you getting flashbacks of grammer school lunches? Or begging your mom to buy them when you went shopping wth her?
Recently, while in line at the grocery store, the cover of this Family Circle magazine caught my eye. It features copies of those yummy packaged desserts we all used to love during childhood (at least I did!) My favorite were the chocolate cupcakes with creme filling and that sugary-sweet chocolate ganache frosting.
My middle son, S. loves to assist me in the kitchen, especially if I'm baking. So, together, we made these creamy, chocolatey cupcakes. To make things easier (and I'm all for easier) we used a boxed chocolate cake mix to make the cupcakes.
The creme filling inside the cupcakes is also used to make the squiggles on top. All you need to make it are 4 tablespoons of softened butter, 1 and a half cups of confectioners sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of milk. Beat these ingredients together until fluffy, and place into a pastry bag. Insert the tip into the top of each cupcake and squirt in the filling. (My son thought this was the most fun part.)
To create the chocolate glaze, simply heat 1/2 cup heavy cream with 1 tablespoon of light corn syrup. Once it comes to a boil, take it off the stove and mix in 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. Let it sit, covered, for 5 minutes, then whisk until it's smooth. The best way to apply the chocolate ganache is to dip the top of each cupcake into the glaze.
After the glaze cools, pipe the creme frosting (from the filing) into decorative swirls on top of the cupcakes. We chose to go the traditional route, and made them chocolate with white creme filling and squiggles. But, by adding a few drops of food coloring to the filling, the cupcakes could be more colorful and seasonal. Maybe you're looking for something new to bring to your Easter celebration this year? Pastel pink, green, and purple squiggles would be so sweet, don't you agree?
These cupcakes are more tasty and moist than those prepackaged ones (in my opinion.) I'm looking forward to trying a few more of the recipes in the April 17 issue of Family Circle. For more delicious dessert recipes, pop on over to the Ultimate Recipe Swap at http://www.lifeasmom.com/2009/04/urs-easter-dessert.html .