Chocolate Cinnamon Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
Sometimes I make recipes into bundts.
This time, I made something from a bundt.
I took my favorite
cinnamon chocolate bundt and make them into cupcakes... topped with ganache. Easy peasy and delicious.
For this batch (above and below photo), the ganache was allowed to set for about an hour before use.
This recipe is really simple to make. Boil the ingredients, pour it over a flour mixture, stir in some buttermilk, eggs and other things you already have available in your kitchen, and in a few minutes you have a cupcake.
I think the best compliments are the ones overheard. My co-worker said she heard two colleagues talking about how much they enjoyed the cupcakes I bought to a meeting that day...while they were in the ladies room!
You don't need to drag out KitchenAid mixer and just a couple bowls will do you fine. The resulting cupcake is very moist because it uses both butter and oil.
So, I made this recipe twice in two days (I had two meetings to attend). The first day, I made the ganache in the morning and let it sit for about an hour before using an offset spatula to apply it to the cupcake. As you can see in the photos labeled "one hour ganache", the ganache was still pretty soft. After I glazed those cupcakes, I put plastic wrap around the remaining ganache and placed it in the refrig. That night, I came home, pulled out the ganache to put it on the counter, walked the dog, and then made the cupcakes again and let them cool. The ganache was set up more than the previous day so these cupcakes had more of a "frosting" look. I placed the frosted cupcake in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, the ganache looked dull on the cupcake - see the left photo above. I remember a hint from a cookbook (was it Dorie Greenspan?) to lightly blow dry the ganache for a few seconds with a hair dryer and the gloss would come back! I did that...and it totally worked. Don't go crazy with it...you don't want to completely melt it...just a few seconds do the job. Imagine that - your cupcake gets a blow out.
Cupcakes1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/4 c plus 1 T (or 5 T) cocoa (I have used both Dutch processed and natural cocoa with fine results). I used 30 grams of Hershey's Cocoa.
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 c buttermilk
1 t baking soda
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, combine together with a whisk: flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon
2. Bring to a boil in a pot: Water, oil, butter and cocoa. Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat.
3. Add the chocolate mixture to the flour and whisk by hand until combined.
4. Add the buttermilk and baking soda and mix.
5. In a small bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla. Add to the batter and combine.
6. Pour batter into 24 cupcakes cups lined with paper liners (or sprayed with Pam with Flour).
7. Bake at 365 degrees for 16-20 minutes (depending on your oven), until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. While it is baking, make the chocolate ganache and let it set up before use. Frost with chocolate ganache.
Ganache1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
Ganache is a combination of heavy cream and chocolate. So easy and so delicious. You can use semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (or a mixture of both). The ratio is heavy cream (in fluid ounces) : chocolate (in weight)
Therefore, I used 8 fluid ounces (1 cup) of heavy cream to 8 ounces (weight) of semi-sweet chocolate.
Place the chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a light simmer. Turn off heat and slowly pour the cream over the chocolate.
Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes. Then slowly whisk the liquid and chocolate together. Mix slowly...you don't want to incorporate extra air into the mixture. Stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.
You can use ganache in different stages of "set". When it is warm, you can pour it over a cake or cupcake. When it firms up a bit more, you can spoon it on the treats. A bit more settling and you can frost with it. You can also whip it up for a lighter frosting. Oh, the possibilities of ganache. It rocks. (It also freezes really well so you should always have some on hand for chocolate emergencies!)
