Rich Chocolate Cupcakes Filled with Chocolate-Mint Ganache with Topped with Mint Buttercream

Recipe from http://cupcakeblog.com/

Chocolate Cupcakes
24 regular cupcakes / 350 degree oven

200 gram bar of Valrhona 61% cocao
3 sticks butter
2-1/4 cups sugar
8 eggs
1-1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

1. chop chocolate and transfer into the bowl of a standing mixer.
2. add butter to the chocolate and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. stir until chocolate melts and butter is combined.
3. remove from heat and stir in sugar. let mixture cool for 10 minutes.
4. beat in an electric mixer for 3 minutes.
5. add one egg at a time, mixing for 30 seconds between each
6. sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and a pinch of salt into the mixture and mix until blended.
7. scoop into cupcake cups and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.



Chocolate-Mint Ganache

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon chopped mint leaves
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

1. chop chocolate and transfer into a heat proof bowl.
2. heat cream and 1/4 cup mint until bubbles form around the edge of the pan, pour cream through strainer, over the chocolate.
3. let sit for 1 minute then stir until combined.
4. add butter and the remaining teaspoon of chopped mint and stir until combined.
5. let cool then transfer to the refrigerator to thicken, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Mint Buttercream Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
4-5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon all natural peppermint extract
1. beat butter until creamy, scrape bowl.
2. add 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar, milk, and peppermint extract, beat until combined.
3. add more powdered sugar as needed to get piping consistency.

Note: I tried to keep the mint flavor subtle and not too overpowering. I recommend starting on the light side with 1/8 teaspoon or less and tasting to get the flavor you want.


Assemble
1. stuff the cupcakes with ganache using the cone method (cut out a cone shape from the top, cut off the pointy cone part, stuff the whole with filling, then put the top back on)



2. frost them.
3. top with something green (if you want), like a mint leaf, green candy, or whatever you fancy.



What do you mean none of them are for me?

Double Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling

From Food&Wine - http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/double-dark-chocolate-cupcakes-with-peanut-butter-filling

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2. 1/2 cup boiling water
3. 1 cup buttermilk
4. 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
5. 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
6. 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
7. 1/4 teaspoon salt
8. 1 1/2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
9. 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
10. 2 large eggs, at room temperature
11. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12. 1 cup creamy peanut butter
13. 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
14. 1 cup heavy cream
15. 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° and position 2 racks in the lower and middle third of the oven. Line 24 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.
2. Put the cocoa powder in a medium heatproof bowl. Add the boiling water and whisk until a smooth paste forms. Whisk in the buttermilk until combined. In a medium bowl, sift the flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 sticks of the butter with the granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then beat in the dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture. Carefully spoon the cupcake batter into the lined muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the cupcakes are springy. Let the cupcakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
3. In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter with the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter until creamy. Sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spoon all but 3 tablespoons of the peanut butter filling into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch star tip. Holding a cupcake in your hand, plunge the tip into the top of the cake, pushing it about 3/4 inch deep. Gently squeeze the pastry bag to fill the cupcake, withdrawing it slowly as you squeeze; you will feel the cupcake expand slightly as you fill it. Scrape any filling from the top of the cupcake and repeat until all of the cupcakes are filled.
4. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Off the heat, add the semisweet chocolate to the cream and let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk the melted chocolate into the cream until smooth. Let the chocolate icing stand until slightly cooled and thickened, about 15 minutes. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the icing, letting the excess drip back into the pan. Transfer the cupcakes to racks and let stand for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the cupcakes again and transfer them to racks. Spoon the remaining 3 tablespoons of peanut butter filling into the pastry bag and pipe tiny rosettes on the tops of the cupcakes.

Make Ahead

The cupcakes are best served the same day they are made, but they can be refrigerated overnight in an airtight container.

Notes

Cooking Club Tip: If you don't have a pastry bag with a fitted tip, you can fill these cupcakes by carving a hole in the center (from the top) with a sharp paring knife. Put the filling in a resealable plastic bag and snip off one of the corners. Pipe the filling directly into the hole.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream

This was ariadne's contribution to cupcake camp; I am posting it on her behalf. This was one of the best frostings there... the cake was good, but the coconut buttercream was AMAZING. You could probably put it on a rock and it would be declared the best! cupcake! EVER!



Chocolate Cupcakes
(from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients

1 cup boiling-hot water
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Rounded 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes

Preparation

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Whisk together hot water and cocoa powder in a bowl until smooth, then whisk in milk and vanilla.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour and cocoa mixtures alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture (batter may look curdled).

Fill cupcake liners to about 3/4 full. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean and edges of cake begin to pull away from sides of pans, 15 to 20 minutes total. Cool in pans on racks 10 minutes, then remove from pans, and cool completely.

Coconut Buttercream
(from Epicurious.com)

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites at room temperature (or use pasteurized egg whites from a carton)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces and softened
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract

Special equipment: a candy thermometer

Preparation:

Combine egg whites and salt in bowl of a standing electric mixer or other large bowl.

Stir together sugar and water in a small heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved and washing down side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. When syrup reaches a boil, start beating whites with electric mixer at medium-high speed. Once whites are frothy, add lemon juice and beat at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks. (Do not beat again until sugar syrup is ready—see below.)

Meanwhile, put thermometer into sugar syrup and continue boiling, without stirring, until it reaches soft-ball stage (238–242°F). Immediately remove from heat and slowly pour hot syrup in a thin stream down side of bowl into egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Beat meringue, scraping down bowl with a rubber spatula, until meringue is cool to the touch, about 6 minutes. (It's important that meringue is fully cooled before proceeding.) - it took mine at least 15 to 20 minutes to cool enough. Don’t use a hand mixer – it will die, believe me.

With mixer at medium speed, gradually add butter 1 piece at a time, beating well after each addition until incorporated. (If meringue is too warm and buttercream looks soupy after some butter is added, chill bottom of bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and cold water for a few seconds before continuing to beat in remaining butter.) Continue beating until buttercream is smooth. (Mixture may look curdled before all butter is added, but will come back together before beating is finished.) Add coconut extract and beat 1 minute more.

Cooks' notes:
•Buttercream can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, covered, or 1 month ahead and frozen. Bring to room temperature (do not use a microwave) and beat with an electric mixer before using.

Mocha Cupcakes with Kahlua Frosting

Recipe from Genesis of a Cook (asweetfantasy.blogspot.com)

Notes: I doubled this recipe for Cupcake Camp and it seemed to work fine. I didn't find the coffee flavor very strong in either the cake or the frosting. If I were to make the frosting again, I'd skip the cream cheese and substitute butter. I thought the cream cheese flavor overpowered the Kahlua. I also added at least a cup more icing sugar than called for (5 cups instead of the 4 required by doubling the recipe) and even then the icing could have been stiffer.

Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine the milk and brewed coffee. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined.

3. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-22 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Kahlua Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tbsp. butter, room temperature
2 1/2 tbsp. Kahlua
2 cups powdered sugar


1. In a bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Mix in Kahlua, then powdered sugar in one cup increments until frosting reaches desired consistency. Apply to cupcakes.

Cookie Monster Cupcakes

This isn't a recipe really because I just used a mix but I thought the directions might be helpful anyway!

You will need:

Chocolate chip cupcakes (I used vanilla with mini chips)
Vanilla icing
Flaked coconut
Blue food coloring
White candy melts (I used the Wilton ones)
Chocolate chips
Chocolate chip cookies, cut in halves or thirds depending on size (I used Chips Ahoy)

1. Place coconut in a large ziplock bag. Add several (like 20) drops of blue food coloring and shake. A lot. Add as much food coloring as is needed to get a nice bright blue color.

2. Tint icing blue as well.

3. Melt about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips in a small ziplock bag (30 second in the microwave should do it), cut a small hole in the bottom corner and pipe dark centers onto white candy melt. Allow to cool.

4. Ice each cupcake with a thin layer of blue icing. Add 1/2 chocolate chip cookie to one side of the cupcake and top with enough icing to round out the cookie monster head. Cover with blue coconut, pressing gently to make sure the head is round and the coconut sticks. be sure to get some on cookie monster's chin.

5. Top with a pair of eyes and you are done!

Creme Brulee Cupcakes

From I Heart Cuppycakes.

This made 24 easily for me. The burnt sugar topping is a MUST, in my opinion. I tried it with the icing, due to a short hunt for the misplaced-in-the-move kitchen torch, but it's really better with the burnt sugar. Otherwise, it tastes like a brown sugar/caramel type cupcake. Never a bad thing, but the burnt sugar kicks it up a notch.

Probably a bit more work than actual Creme Brulee, but it was fun to make at least once!

For the cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt (plus a pinch for egg whites)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 cup milk

3 tbsp caramel syrup (like ice cream topping or whatever)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together and set aside. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately beat in dry ingredients and milk.

Add caramel syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl (I wish I had had two KitchenAid bowls for this!), beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff (and not dry). Gently fold into batter. Pour into cups, about 3/4 full, and bake for 15-20 mins.

Frosting/Filling (dubbed by the blog, "Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream")

1 cup brown sugar

4 egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

Put sugar, egg whites and salt on top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water.

Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees, if you care to check).

Pour mixture into bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until it forms stiff peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 mins.

Switch to paddle attachment and with mixer on med-low speed, add butter slowly, about 2 tbsp at a time. Increase speed to med-high and beat until thick (about 3 mins).

Reduce speed to low and beat 1 min to reduce air bubbles.

To assemble cupcakes:

Cone the middle, fill with frosting. Push it down with a spoon if you remember. I forgot to do this on half of them, so they had dome tops. Sprinkle with white, brown, or raw sugar, and torch away!

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

These are the cupcakes I made for Calgary's (private) Cupcake Camp... chocolate cake with strawberries, and a strawberry buttercream topped with a strawberry slice and dark chocolate shavings. The cupcakes were adapted from a family chocolate cake recipe.

Cupcakes

1 cup white sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1 egg
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped strawberries
boiling water
heaping spoonful of flour

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg (beaten). Put the cocoa in a liquid measuring cup, and add enough boiling water to make 1 cup of liquid. Mix well and add to the sugar/butter/egg mixture. Mix the baking soda with another 1/2 cup boiling water and add that in. Mix 1 cup of flour and baking powder and mix that in. Mix the strawberries with the spoonful of flour. This shold keep the berries from all sinking to the bottom; so if there's not enough flour, add a little more so they're pretty well coated. Fold them in. Divide into 12 paper-lined cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes at 350^oF.

(The original recipe left out the strawberries and the flour covering them; use a greased and floured 9x9" cake pan and bake for 30 minutes.)

Icing

1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
juice from half a lemon
1/2 cup butter or margarine
icing sugar

Start by mixing the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it cook down a little (10 minutes or so). Put this into a food processor or blender and mix until no large chunks remain. Let the strawberry sauce cool (I stuck mine in the fridge or freezer if I was in a hurry).

Meanwhile, start prepping the icing base. Cream the butter together with 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 tbsp. of the (cooled!) strawberry sauce, mix it in and add 1 more cup of icing sugar. Add 1-2 tbsp. more strawberry sauce to thin it to spreading consistency. (Note: This should be about enough for a dozen cupcakes... if you're doing more, just keep adding 2 tbsp. of sauce alternating with 1 cup of icing sugar until you've got enough icing.)

Frost the cupcakes and top with some chocolate shavings and some strawberry!

I wouldn't do strawberry slices again; they dry out too quickly and start to look funny. The first time I made these I used quartered strawberries and they last much longer. I think the perfect garnish would actually be the tiny whole strawberries you buy at farmer's markets in the summer... they would last much better and wouldn't leak juice on the icing.

Lemon Coconut Snowballs

From the book Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans

Makes 12 Regular Cupcakes (I dbl the recipe and it still worked out well, in hindsight I did not need to dbl the lemon filling and did not dbl the frosting)

1 1/3c Cake flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Salt
6 Tbsp Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Almond Extract
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 C Sugar
6 Large Egg Whites
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
3/4 C Lemon Filling

Lemon Sauce and Filling
Makes 1 Cup (I dbl'd it since I could freeze it to use for when I make these cupcakes again)

1/4 c (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp cornstart, dissolved in 1/4 c water
1 tsp grated lemon zest

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter and lemon juice over medium heat until the butter melts and th emixutre is hot, about 130 F on a thermometer.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar together to blend them, then whisk in the dissolved cornstarch. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the hot butter and lemon juice into the yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a large spoon, just until it comes to a boil and thickens; it will take about 6 minutes. Which thickened, the sauce will leave a path on the back of the spoon if you draw your finger across it and look clear rather then cloudy. Immediately remove from the heat, strain into a small bowl, and stir in lemon zest. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the sauce, use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the plastic wrap to let the steam escape, and refridgerate until cold. The sauce will thicken further as it chills.

The sauce can be refridgerated for up to 3 days or leaving at least an inch of space in the top of the container, press plastic wrap onto the surface, seal tightly and freeze up to 3 months. It does not freeze solid so it's easy to just take it out of the freeze and spoon out what you need w/o having to defrost it.


Frosting:

3 C. shredded sweetened coconut
Seven Minute Frosting

Seven Minute Frosting:

1 1/4 C. sugar
1/3 c. water
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla exract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Put the sugar, water, egg whites, and cream of tartar in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler with at least 2 qt capacity and beat with a handheld electric mixer on high speed until opaque, white, and foamy, about 1 minute. Put the bowl over, but not touching , a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler). The top container should sit firmly over the pan of hot water; be sure to keep the cord of the electric mixer away from the burner. Beat on high speed until the frosting forms a soft peak that standsd straight up if you stop the beaters and lift them up, about 7 minutes. The frosting should register 160 F on the thermometer. Remove the container of frosting from the water, add vanilla and almond extracts, and continute beating for 2 minutes to further thicken the frosting.


Make the cupcakes. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Pre-heat to 350 F. Line 12 muffin tin cups with paper cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, stir the milk and vanilla and almond extracts together.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until smoothly blended and lightened in colour, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until each addition is incorporated before adding the next, set aside.

In another large bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar on low speed until the whites are foamy and the cream of tartar dissolves, about 1 minute. Beat on medium-high until soft peaks form. Use a rubber spatula to fold one-third of the whipped egg whites into the batter, then fold in the reamining whites until no streaks of egg white reamin.

Fill each paper liner with 1/3c of batter, to about 1/4" below the top of the liner. Bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs clinging to it, about 23 mins (mine were done at around 18-20 mins). The tops should remain pale or barely brown just on the edges. Cool the cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove cupcakes and cool completely on the wire rack.

Fill the cupcakes. Remove the paper liners. Cut a cone-shaped peice, about 1" across and 1" deep, out of th emiddle of the top of each cupcake; set the peices aside. Spoon 1 tbsp of lemon filling into each hole. Replace the cone-shaped pcs of cupcake. Immediately frost the cupcakes.

Frost the cupcakes. Spread the coconut on a plate or piece of wax paper. Holding the cupcake in the palm of your hand, use a small metal spatula to spread about 1/2c of frosting over the top and sides, cover it completely. Sprinkle coconut generously over the frosting, letting any extra fall onto the plate to be recycled onto another cupcake. Place on the serving plate and continue frosting the remaining cupcakes.

Serve or cover carefully and refridgerate to serve cold. Cupcakes can be refridgerated up to 2 days.