Mini Cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago, my parents came back from visiting Kentucky. They helped my grandma and aunt go through a bunch of storate items from my grandma's old house. My parents surprised me by bringing me a bunch of my great-grandma's baking supplies. Two mini cupcake pans came with it all. I've made mini cupcakes before and didn't have much luck with them. My small scoop wasn't the proper size to make the perfect amount of batter in the paper wrappers and neither was my moms. I've been itching to use the pans though. More and more on Cupcake Wars I've seen some of the people pipe their batter into the cupcakes. In my head I can't figure out why--because I know my scoop for normal sized cupcakes makes them come out perfect everytime. Well, I finally decided to try their technique with the mini cupcakes today. IT WORKED! The cupcakes came out to the perfect size. I did this out of boredom and wanting to use my pans. Since I'm in a wedding this weekend, I figured I'd just send these cupcakes with my husband to work. They turned out much better than expected. Also, I've been wanting to draw with ganache on top of cupcakes for a while, and now seemed like the perfect time to do so. These are a great snack to freeze and put into your child's lunch for school. You can get 72 mini cupcakes out of one boxed cake mix.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:

* 1 boxed yellow cake mix (you can use any type of cake mix, I just happend to have a yellow one and didn't feel like making my own batter!)

* ingredients needed to make cake

Vanilla Frosting:

* 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp

* 1/8 teaspoon salt

* 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

* 1/2 teaspoon milk

Chocolate Ganache:

* 1/4 cup heavy cream

* 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Make the cake according to the box.

2. Pipe the batter into the cupcake wrappers. I piped them a little less than half full.

3. Bale the mini cupcakes for 11 minutes.

4. Once removed from oven, let the cupcakes sit in the pan for about 3-5 minutes. Remove and then put onto a cooling rack.

Frosting:

1. Beat butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Aprox. two minutes.

2. Reduce speed to low, gradually add confectioners sugar. Beat until incorporated.

3. Add vanilla and milk and beat until smooth and creamy.

*Add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if frosting doesn't have spreadable consistency

4. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. I tried out three different tips and was short frosting for about 10 of the cupcakes. I just put some extra ganache on top of those and it worked out fine!

Ganache:

1. On a double boiler, pour heavy cream into a pan (mine was dirty so I opted for a sauce pan) and bring to a boil. if you notice the cream to start to harden on the top--take it off imediatley.

2. Once the heavy cream is removed from the heat, pour chocolate chips into the cream and let sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

3. Stir the chocolate and cream until you get to a smooth consistency. If there are some lumps you can't get out you can just put the pan back onto the double boiler and stir until the lumps come out.

4. Let the chocolate cool for about 10 minutes and then let the fun begin!

5. I added a dot that was apart of a sprinkle set I had..I got tired of messing with them after about ten cupcakes though.

*courtesy of Georgetown Cupcake, Sprinkles



Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cupcake

Two flavors that I love to make different combinations with are peanutbutter and chocolate. This was my second recipe I've used for a peanutbutter buttercream. Much tastier than the first. I like buttercreams that are easy to frost. Although I find myself adding more milk than called for, in the end it tastes much better. For my chocolate cupcake, I use pretty much the same recipe everytime. Also my ganache recipe has stayed the same for everything. For the longest time I've had problem after problem with ganache. In the end, I'd find my kitchen covered in chocolate. I'd researched and researched how to perfect ganache and have it harden faster. The first three or four times I had made it, it took six hours to thicken. Six hours is a LONG time. I thank my husband greatly for perfecting it. While chatting with Sophie and Katherine, the one question I wanted to ask was about ganache since I use their recipe. I was too embarassed so my husband stepped forward and got the answer! Using a double boiler, I now don't heat the chocolate and heavy cream over the stove. I bring the heavy cream to a boil and then remove from the heat and pour the chocolate chips in. Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then stir. The chocolate should melt and be thicker than if you had boiled it together. Also, for piping reasons, I either hand mix the ganache or just put it in the stand mixer and mix and mix and mix until I have my desired consistency. So long six hour wait! To fill the ganache into the middle of the cupcake, I use an apple corer. Usually I'll make two holes in the cupcake so you can get a good chunk of filling and not be teased by just having a little bit of it. I then let it cool and pipe on the frosting afterwards!!! I found that with this cupcake, it tastes excellent when it's been in the refridgerator for a little bit. To me, it tasted like a reeses cup. You can also add some chocolate shavings to the top if you want. This is a recipe worth making!

Peanut Butter Frosting Ingredients:

* 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

* 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

* 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

* 1 pinch salt

* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Ganache Ingredients (For filling)

* 1 cup chocolate chips

* 1/2 cup heavy cream

Chocolate Cupcake Ingredients:

* 1 1/4 cups flour, sifted
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 1/4 cups sugar
* 2 large eggs, at room temperature
* 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted

Cupcake Directions:
1. For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard cupcake pan with 12 baking cups, and a second pan with 6 baking cups. (I can sometimes get more out of the batter than 18)

2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in separate bowl.

3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Stop to add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.

5. Combine the vanilla extract and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.

6. Reduce the speed to low. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add one-third of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Add another one-third of the flour mixture, followed by one-third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.

7. Add the cocoa powder, beating (on low speed) just until incorporated.
Use a standard-size ice cream scoop to fill each cupcake paper with batter, so that the wells are two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ganache Directions:
1. Using double boiler, pour heavy cream into pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

2. Once boiling, remove from heat and pour in chocolate chips.

3. Let chocolate start to melt and then stir until all is melted.

4. Pour ganache mixture into a bowl of either a standing mixer or a regular bowl to mix in and beat until you have your desired consistency to fill cupcakes. If you don't want to use a mixer, just wait until the ganache has cooled down before filling cupcakes for best results.

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting Directions:

1.In standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter and peanut butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds.

2. Add confectioners' sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds.

3. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

*Note, If you want a thinner frosting, add milk until reaching desired consistency.

*inspired by Georgetown Cupcake, food.com