Cream-Filled Cupcake Cake

Yum

So today was my husband's birthday. What to make? Well, he loves layer cake. And he loves my cream-filled cupcakes. I think it calls for a mash-up, don't you?

I have a confession to make: I'm kind of terrible at cake decorating. When my husband tells me he wants a layer cake, I cringe. So, I had to think of something easy. Easy and chocolate-y, of course. Since I had some buttercream in the freezer, left from making cupcakes last week, it was a no-brainer to thaw it out. Then I took my favorite chocolate cake recipe, baked it into three layers, spread the buttercream in between the layers, and topped it off with some chocolate ganache. So easy it's ridiculous.

It's crazy, but the easy thing about this is the frosting. It's a chocolate ganache, made with dark chocolate chips and heavy cream and when it's first mixed together it's pourable. Seriously. Pourable. You can just let it drip down the sides.

Let's start with the cake, though. The beautiful cake. Dare I say the best cake ever? Okay...the best cake ever. Made with dark cocoa, buttermilk, and a hint of coffee to bring out even more chocolate-y flavor. 

Cream-Filled Cupcake Cake

Printable Recipe

Cake:

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark cocoa

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; grease and flour 3 (8 or 9-inch) cake pans.

Combine egg, oil and buttermilk. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Combine the egg mixture and the flour mixture, mixing well. Slowly mix in hot coffee. Divide the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. 

Buttercream:

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In small saucepan, whisk the flour and the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and cook until thick and bubbly, whisking the entire time. Place thickened mixture in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Cool completely. 

Combine the butter and the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat for several minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the cooled flour mixture and beat for an additional 5 minutes, or until the frosting is smooth with no gritty sugar. Stir in the vanilla.

Ganache:

1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until it just comes to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for one minute. Use a spatula or a wooden spoon to stir the chocolate and the cream until smooth and shiny.

Assemble:

First, set aside about 1/4 cup of the buttercream for the squiggle on the top of the cake. Place one cooled cake layer, top-side down, on cake plate. Spread with half of the remaining buttercream. Add the next layer, again top-side down, and spread with the remaining buttercream. Add the final layer top-side up. Spoon the ganache over the top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to spread the chocolate over the cake, allowing it to spill down the sides. Chill the cake for a few minutes to set the chocolate. In the meantime, spoon the reserved buttercream into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip. Pipe a squiggle over the top of the cake. Keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve.

It's not a cream-filled cupcake without the squiggle.....

Peanut Butter Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cupcakes...two ways

If I had to call any one of my recipes my favorite, I would have to say it is the recipe for my Cream-Filled Cupcakes. I remember thinking it up--I just knew it was going to be the perfect answer to an adult version of that childhood treat. I even got the squiggle on the top! Of course, now you can find Cream-Filled Cupcake recipes all over the Internet. It's OK...although I've tweaked the recipe over the years, my version is still my favorite.

A few weeks ago, my daughter had a birthday. Her usual request is for me to make a Banana Fudge Ice Cream Pie, but this year she was more interested in having me make something her boyfriend would like, namely anything with peanut butter and chocolate.  I got to thinking...wouldn't the Cream-Filled Cupcake be good in a peanut butter version? 

I made the first batch of cupcakes much like my original recipe, just replacing some of the butter in the filling with peanut butter. They were good. Very good. But, I made the mistake of not putting enough filling in them. The kids were a tad critical, all the while wiping chocolate off of their lips. I decided to try a different approach with the next batch.

For the second batch, I made a different recipe for the actual cupcake. Unfortunately, I over filled the cups in the cupcake pan....whoa...the tops overflowed just a little....

I managed to get them all out in one piece, but they were a bit wide. Then, when it came time to dip them in the ganache, the tops started coming right off! I ended up using a spatula to get the ganache on top, while leaving the cupcakes in one piece.

I also used a different peanut butter filling, remembering how the kids licked the frosting off of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes I made awhile back. This time, I not only filled the cupcake with the frosting, but I topped the chocolate ganache with a dab of it as well. Then I capped it with half of a mini peanut butter cup.

My kitchen was warm, so I refrigerated them to allow the ganache to set.

Which cupcake won the taste test? Frankly, on appearance alone, it was divided. Some liked the traditional look of the squiggle on top, but others preferred the cute little peanut butter cup garnish. They both taste great--my daughter preferred the second version and, indeed, the batch I took to work disappeared quickly. Since the second recipe was significantly different, I will post that one here. To make the first version, simply click on the link for Cream-Filled Cupcakes and replace one stick of butter for 1/2 cup peanut butter in the filling.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

Printable Recipe

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 egg
2/3 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. buttermilk
2 c. flour
1 3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. cocoa (use the dark version, if preferred)
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 c. hot coffee

Filling Ingredients:
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
4 tbsp. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. milk

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. heavy cream


15 dark chocolate mini peanut butter cups, halved, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners (about 30).

Combine egg, oil, vanilla and buttermilk. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and baking soda. Combine the egg mixture and the flour mixture, mixing well. Slowly mix in hot coffee. Batter will be thin. 

Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

For the filling, beat together the butter, cream cheese, and peanut butter in a medium bowl, until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, beating after each addition. Add the milk and beat until creamy.

Fit a pastry bag with a long narrow tip and fill with peanut butter filling. Insert tip about 1/2 inch deep into the top of each cupcake and fill cupcake with frosting. Set aside unused filling.

Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl. Heat the heavy cream over low/med heat until it just starts to simmer. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and let it sit for 2 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir the chocolate chips and the cream until well-blended.

Swirl the top of each cupcake into chocolate glaze, coating the top of each cake. Let the glaze harden for a few minutes (you can chill them, if desired), then, using leftover filling, pipe a swirl of buttercream on top of each cupcake. Garnish each cupcake with 1/2 mini peanut butter cup.

Which one would you choose?

Sweet Potato Madeleines with Chocolate-Orange Ganache

Once again I find myself in a sweet situation. Or should I say a "sweet potato" situation? It is, you see, time for the annual Blogger Sweet Potato Recipe Contest, sponsored by the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission. Last year the theme of the contest was "healthy"...not such an easy task for me. I managed to squeak in a few recipes...Double Sweets and Beets Pizza, Sweet Potato Scones, and Sweet Potato Stuffed Dates. This year, the contest is calling itself the "No More Mallows" Recipe Contest...much more open, don't you think? I have decided that for my first recipe, I will channel my inner Proust. Let's make those sweet potatoes into the traditional French tea cake, the Madeleine. These are easier to make than you might think....

Sweet Potato Madeleines with Chocolate -Orange Ganache

Printable Recipe

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup mashed, cooled sweet potatoes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 tablespoon orange zest

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; grease a Madeleine pan with butter or spray with cooking spray.

Whisk together the cake flour and the baking powder; set aside

I just wrapped my sweet potato in foil and baked it for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

You only need 1/4 cup--store the rest away for another recipe. Or more of this one. :)



Freshly ground nutmeg is a new thing for me...I love it!

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until thick and golden, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and the butter and continue to beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in the sweet potatoes, salt, nutmeg, orange zest and vanilla. Carefully fold in the flour/baking powder mixture, and stir until incorporated.

Fill each portion of the Madeleine pan about 3/4 full. Bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool completely on a wire rack.

When cooled, dip into warm Chocolate-Orange Ganache. Place on waxed paper and chill to set chocolate.

Aren't they pretty? Seriously, they are good enough to eat as is...but I wouldn't want you to miss the Chocolate-Orange Ganache.

Chocolate-Orange Ganache

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon orange zest

1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Place the chocolate chips in a small bow.

Heat the cream, butter, and orange zest in a small saucepan until almost boiling. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. 

I think Proust would approve, don't you?