J and J cook. bake. eat.

 

This week's cupcake is a Chocolate Cupcake dipped in Chocolate Ganache and topped with a  Swiss Buttercream.

The recipe we used for the cakes is Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes. It's a very good recipe, very easy and fast.  The recipe make 24 cupcakes, but we simply divided the recipe in half to only make 12. Though, you could make the full recipe and share the cupcakes with your co-workers or family etc. They would love you for that, I'm sure!

We hope you enjoy the recipe!


J and J



~ One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes ~
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com


3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons safflower oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.

- Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.


~ Swiss Buttercream ~
8oz egg whites
1 lb. sugar, granulated
pinch salt, kosher
1 lb. butter, unsalted, softened and cubed

- Combine egg whites, sugar and salt in a bowl. Heat over a pot of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water, until the sugar dissolves, approximately until 110° F.
- Once dissolved, place into a bowl of a mixer, and whip until cool (it will resemble a meringue). This will take some time, approximately 15 minutes.
- Add room temperature, uniform chunks of butter to meringue and whip to a glossy and firm consistency.

- Just in case, you may notice that when after you added the butter, if the meringue looks "watery" or "thin", you may need to place a bowl of ice underneath the bowl of the meringue. It may be that the meringue is still a tad bit too warm and when adding the butter, it sort of melted. The coldness of the ice, helps to cool off the meringue and allow the butter to firm up a bit, producing more of a buttercream consistency.



~ Chocolate Ganache ~
8 oz. premium quality chocolate, chopped
4 oz. heavy cream.


- Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized bowl. Bring the cream to a scald over medium heat. Once the cream has come to a scald, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. Stir together to incorporate the cream into the chocolate until it is smooth. Gently dip the tops of the cooled cupcakes into the ganache and set aside to firm up a bit.

When the ganache is set, pipe/swirl the buttercream on top. Sprinkle with your favorite topping:  jimmies, chopped nuts, assorted candies, etc.

~ Enjoy! ~