Cream filled chocolate cupcake with ganache frosting

I made these cupcakes recently for a friend's birthday. I have been searching  the web for a crowd pleasing cream filled cupcakes and adapted  it from  here. The cupcake recipe is pretty basic  , however I found the cream, filling to be a bit too sweet for my liking. I reduced the amount of confectionary sugar to three cups from 4 cups and  used my own ganache recipe.  Ganache is made simply by heating cream,  poured  over chopped semisweet chocolate and blended well.  Ganache  is spreadable when cooled slightly  and once chilled the chocolate mixture can be made into truffles ( with other additions) . The original cream filling recipe called for shortening which I switched with butter.

  I used Wilton tip 12 to fill the cupcakes with cream filling . The cupcakes can be baked, filled and iced a day ahead. Serve at room temperature.

Cream filled chocolate cupcake with ganache frosting
CUPCAKES - 24 filled cupcakes
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp espresso powder
2 eggs
2 sticks butter ( 1 cup butter)
4 heaping tablespoon coca powder
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line medium sized muffin pan with cupcake liner.
Stir together buttermilk, baking soda, vanilla extract and eggs until well combined, set aside.

Melt butter on medium heat on stove top, add cocoa powder and espresso powder and whisk. Using a whisk eliminates lumps.  Pour in boiling water to cocoa  - butter mixture and allow it to bubble for a few seconds and turn off heat.
Pour chocolate mixture into a large bowl and add in flour, sugar and salt. Stir a few times ( you want to cool the batter a bit). Pour in buttermilk mixture and stir until combined.

Fill lined muffin pan half full and bake for 13 - 15 minutes. Cool completely on a rack. Fill cooled cupcakes with cream filling.

CREAM FILLING
1 cup butter / 2 sticks unsalted butter
3 cups confectionary sugar - sifted
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup milk ( room temp)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cream butter ,confectionary sugar and salt using a mixer. Pour in vanilla, milk and beat till fluffy. Fill a pastry bag with TIP 12 , insert tip of the pastry bag into  the top of the cooled cupcakes. Fill cupcakes using medium pressure.

GANACHE
1 cup cream
12 oz chopped semisweet chocolate

Heat cream in a heavy bottomed pot on slow heat. Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour heated cream over it. Whisk together until mixture is smooth and glossy. Allow to cool slightly, top cooled and filled  cupcakes with ganache .

Sweet Treats

Blueberry cream cupcakes

                                                           

Carrot cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting

Cream filled chocolate cupcakes with ganache frosting

                 
                                                         

   

                                                       Linzer cookies

                                                    Vanilla madeleines

                                                  Chocolate biscotti

                                                 Blondies with chocolate chips and walnuts

                                                 Ultimate brownie with walnuts

                                                   White chocolate glazed rice krispie treat

                                                    Brownie chocolate cookies

Barbecued Pulled Chicken

There is no need to wait for summer to enjoy this dish. This can be made in a slow cooker or in the oven . Both methods work well . This recipe requires some planning if using a slow cooker - I used the oven.  And I shredded the chicken into large pieces - it keeps the meat from getting too mushy when mixed with the rest of the ingredients. 

This is  a great dish  for a large crowd, can be made a day ahead and reheated in the oven. I used chicken legs with back attached , skin on and bone in. The skin can be removed and the fat drained off after chicken is cooked in the oven prior to shredding .


 Pulled Chicken in Bbq Sauce
3 lbs chicken pieces
1 14 oz bottle BBQ sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tb lemon juice
1 medium onion - chopped
Hamburger buns

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Rub salt and pepper on chicken pieces , place in a covered casserole dish and preheated oven. Bake for 2 hours. Remove chicken from oven and when it is cool enough to handle, remove skin and drain off fat . The meat  will fall of the bones and shred chicken with two forks.
Mix chicken gently with chopped onion, BBQ sauce and lemon juice. Place chicken back in the oven, covered for 30 - 45 mins . Check on chicken to make sure it does not burn, stir a few times ( every 15 minutes or so).
Serve in hamburger buns . With lots of creamy coleslaw :)) This recipe made 7 - 10 servings.

Rice Krispie Treat

This is a delicious, low commitment dessert that can be easily whipped up on short notice. I used gelatin free marshmallows in this recipe. Vegetarian marshmallows are  available at most health food stores. Or you could make your own ( I have yet to make marshmallows at home....some day). Fancy it up with a cookie cutter and some melted chocolate! This keeps well for a few days ( I recommend up to three days) .

Rice Krispie Treat
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 oz mini marshmallows
3 1/2 cup crisped rice cereal
Pinch of salt
Optional - chocolate chips

Butter 4 by 4 inch pan.
Melt butter and salt in a large pot on medium heat. Add mini marshmallows and stir until melted and add rice cereal and stir well. Press into prepared  pan . I used my well buttered hands to do this. Or a buttered back of a spoon will work as well. Cool.
Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler and dip cut pieces of treats and place on a wax or parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Cut into whatever shape you like, medium sized cookie cutter works well .

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

I have many chocolate lovers in my life with varying degrees of chocolate dessert preference. And who doesn't love a good cookie ? I came across this recipe from one of my favourite website here. It is chewy and not snappish like most roll out cookie. I had most of the ingredients in my pantry,therefore  no need to make special trip to the store , a bonus this weekend when we were snowed in for almost three days.

Brownie Roll Out Cookie adapted from Smitten Kitchen
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp espresso powder
2/3 cup sifted cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients and set aside. Cream butter , sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and cocoa powder in a mixer.
Add flour to the creamed butter mixture and mix until well combined. Wrap dough in cling wrap and chill in the fridge for an hour.

When ready to bake, line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Roll out dough on a floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, bake for 11 minutes for 1/4 thick cookies. The cookies will look slightly puffed and soft. Cool on rack.

Ultimate brownie

This blog site a place for me to keep a journal of recipes , like most bloggers. In some cases the recipes are made many times over and does not get  posted . This is one such recipe. It delivers excellent result every time and is my ultimate go to brownie recipe. It is on the fudgey side and I usually leave in the fridge for at least 4  hours after it is completely cooled as it will be too soft to cut. The chopped English toffee bits really make this recipe.

Ultimate Brownie

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup brown sugar 
 1 cup all purpose flour -sifted
3/4 cup cocoa powder - sifted
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
 4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup English toffee bits
1 tsp instant coffee powder
1 cup chopped walnuts


 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 13 x 9x 2 pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Melt butter, sugar on low heat. Take off heat and whisk in sifted cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking soda. Using a separate bowl, blend eggs and  vanilla extract. Pour egg mixture into flour -sugar mixture until well blended. Mix in English toffee bits , chopped walnuts and pour into lined baking pan and bake for 35 -40 minutes. Cool completed and let sit in fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

Devil's Food Cake

I made this cake for a birthday recently and needless to say it was time well spent. The best part of this cake is having it for breakfast the next day :) I prefer to work with recipes that can be prepared a few days ahead so that I am not staying up way past my bedtime on a weeknight after a long day at the office.

This recipe may seem a bit fiddly as the egg  are separated and beaten. Then added to the butter - sugar mixture followed by folding in beaten egg whites. These additional steps take are minor compared to the pay off  - iced chocolate cake for the next few days!

The iced cake keep well and can be made at least 2 days ahead. I kept it  in the pantry which always stays cooler than the rest of the house. An easy way to melt chopped chocolate  ( I prefer to use Ghiradelli)  is to microwave it for 10 seconds, stir and repeat until  chocolate is melted.

Devils' Food Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs - separated
3/4 cup unsalted butter - at room temperature
 2 cups brown sugar
8 oz semi sweet chocolate - chopped and melted
2 cups whole milk
1 1//2 tsp vanilla extract
 a pinch of espresso powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Grease and line two 9 by 2 round cake pans with parchment paper and set aside.
Using a stand mixer beat three egg yolks until thick and light colored for about 3 minutes (on medium speed) and set aside. Sift flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy, pour in beaten egg yolks until well combined. Alternately add melted chocolate, milk and vanilla extract to the creamed butter mixture. Beat egg white separately until light and fluffy  and gently fold into the cake batter.

Divide batter between lined cake pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until cake tester comes clean. Cool for 15 minutes and remove from cake pan . Ice cakes  with chocolate buttercream or ganache once cakes are cooled.

Chocolate Buttercream
1 cup butter - at room temperature
1 tb plus 1 tsp whole milk
6 oz melted semisweet chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

Beat butter till creamy. Add add melted chocolate and milk, beat till smooth. Pour in vanilla extract and sifted confectioners' sugar and mix till creamy.

Recipe from Magnolia Bakery Cookbook