Chocolate Ganache-Filled Cupcakes and Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

The party honoree, Baby Jude

My brother and sister-in-law have been in country from Africa, where they are missionaries, for the past few months. They came for the arrival of my first nephew, who is as beautiful as a baby can be. Last night, my mom held a cookout at our family's farm to introduce the little guy to our extended family. My grandmother is one of ten brothers and sisters, so you can imagine the chaos that entails when we all get together! Several of her sisters came with their families, as well as one of her brothers. There were cousins stacked up on cousins, and above all lots of babies!

My grandmother has been a great-grandma for several years, since the birth of my cousin Jennifer's 6-year-old son Saxxon. But in the past nine months, three new babies have been born, bringing her great-grandchild count from one to four. Many babies were held and passed around, and many of these cupcakes were eaten.

For the occasion, I decided to make two special types of cupcakes: Chocolate Ganache-Filled and Strawberry Shortcake. The chocolate ones were tweaked from a recipe I found on the San Fransisco Food Wars website and blog. The strawberry ones were my own invention, but I used a buttercream frosting recipe I found at FoodandWine.com.


Chocolate Ganache-Filled Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

These are actually called Guinness Gasm cupcakes, but I omitted the Bailey's Irish Cream in the frosting to make them kid-friendly. I did use beer in the batter, but alcohol largely cooks out of things like batter, making them kid-friendly and unlikely to offend non-drinkers. Rather than Guinness, what I had in the refrigerator was Dogfish Head Chicory Stout, so that's what I used. I thought the coffee flavor would be delicious with the chocolate, and I believe I was correct!

Cupcakes:
1 cup dark beer
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the beer. Stir occasionally until completely melted. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, & salt. In a third small bowl, beat together eggs and sour cream. Add the chocolate/butter/beer mixture to the eggs/sour cream mixture until well-mixed. Add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and stir until combined. Bake in cupcake liners for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool.


Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used semisweet baking chips. You can use chips or chop up several chocolate bars. I happen to think chips are easier to melt!)
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons room-temperature, unsalted butter

In a small saucepan, heat the cream to simmering. Place chocolate in a small bowl and pour the cream over it, then stir until the chocolate is melted and completed mixed with the cream. Add the butter and stir until melted. Place in the fridge and take out every 10 minutes to stir until ganache is thick, but not stiff. When cupcakes have cooled, poke a hole in the center with a knife and pipe ganache into the center. (You can use a frosting piper, or you can just use a plastic baggie with a corner cut off -- that's what I do!)


Frosting:
3 to 4 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup room-temperature, unsalted butter3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream (omit for kids & add a little bit of vanilla extract)

With an electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy. Slowly add confectioners sugar a little at a time until frosting is the right consistency. There's no way for me to tell you exactly how much -- humidity & elevation affect it, so you'll just have to do your best. If the frosting is too stiff (after adding a bit too much sugar), add heavy cream a dribble at a time & beat in. Add Baileys or vanilla and beat to combine. Frost with 1-2 tablespoons per cupcake. I chopped up some of my leftover chocolate (the ganache only takes 8 oz & most bags of chocolate chips are 10-11 oz), then sprinkled on top of the icing.

These are so yummy. The ganache inside is an unexpected treat!

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Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes

I just sort of thought these up, as something different from chocolate. Strawberries are everywhere this time of year, so finding fresh, sweet ones shouldn't be a problem. Instead of doing a traditional yellow cupcake or shortcake, I used angel's food cake mix for the actual cupcakes. This made them light as a dessert (and fat free, too!).

Cupcakes:
Angel food cake boxed mix
Cold water
1/2 c Strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using directions on cake mix box, add the correct amount of water and beat as directed. Pour into cupcake tins lined with cupcake papers. Bake 15-20 minutes, checking to make sure the outside is golden brown but not burned. Bake until the tops of the cupcakes are not sticky to the touch. Allow to cool. Poke holes in cupcakes with a knife, then whip strawberry jam in a small bowl (I used a fork, just to break up the jam and make its consistency a bit more pourable.) Use a frosting piper or sandwich bag with the corner cut off to pipe strawberry jam into the center of the cupcakes.


Frosting:
6 T unsalted butter, room temperature
2-3 c confectioners sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 T heavy cream1/4 c strawberry jam

With an electric mixer, beat butter to a whipped, light consistency. Slowly add 2 c of sugar & continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla and cream and beat until smooth again. Stir in strawberry jam with a large spoon. If frosting is too wet, beat in additional sugar (up to 1 cup) until it is an appropriate consistency for spreading. Frost cupcakes.


Topping:
Fresh strawberries
1/2 c heavy cream
1-2 T sugar

Wash and thinly slice strawberries after removing hull. (I used an egg slicer to make very thin, uniform slices of strawberry.) In a small metal or glass bowl (chilled, preferably), beat cream and sugar with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Place 2-3 slices of strawberry on top of frosted cupcakes, then top with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. (**Note: You can make the cupcakes and frost them a day or so ahead of time, but DO NOT put the strawberries and whipped cream on top until just ready to serve. You'll find a melted, runny mess if you do this too early!)