Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

I did complete the DB challenge this month, but I have been too lazy to take it out of the freezer for photos. I will try to do it tomorrow.

Anyway, here are some cupcakes I made while my mom was here. I normally stick to my go-to recipe for chocolate cake, which is a doctored up version of Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake. However, once I saw these cupcakes from Cook’s Illustrated on Gonna Want Seconds, I decided to try out another recipe.

This chocolate cake recipe is a bit more involved and more expensive because of the chopped chocolate, ganache, refrigeration time, and bread flour, if you don’t bake bread often (I suppose you could use AP flour instead, but I haven’t tried that). The flavor and texture were amazing, though. I can’t say that it was necessarily better than my go-to recipe; I can only say they are two fantastic variations of basically the same thing.

Not surprisingly, the Cook’s Illustrated recipe is a bit richer and more sophisticated than the go-to recipe. The go-to recipe is easier to do and is not as decadent. So, I would definitely use the go-to recipe for a “just-because” day, a child’s birthday, or around the time “Aunt Flo” comes by (if she ever stops by your place hehe). It tastes like the prototypical chocolate cake but better. The more sophisticated recipe, however, would be perfect for special occasions or whenever you want to indulge a bit more.

I rarely like chocolate on chocolate because it can be so rich, so instead of using chocolate frosting, I used vanilla bean frosting.The frosting was so good and flavorful. If you look closely, you can see a few specks of the vanilla bean. [Speaking of vanilla beans, I bought a 1/4th pound of the stuff over a year ago for only 4-7 dollars on eBay, and I still have a bunch left. I suggest searching on eBay for some good deals on vanilla beans.]

Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling
adapted from Gonna Want Seconds, which came from Cook’s Illustrated
Ganache Filling:
2 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp confectioner’s or powdered sugar
Chocolate Cupcakes:
3 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/3 cup cocoa (regular or Dutch-processed)
3/4 cup hot coffee (I used espresso and boiling water)
3/4 cup bread flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp table salt (I used kosher)
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
FOR GANACHE FILLING: 
Place chocolate, cream, and confectioners’ sugar in medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave on high power until mixture is warm to touch, 20 to 30 seconds. 
Whisk until smooth; transfer bowl to refrigerator and let stand until just chilled, no longer than 30 minutes. 
FOR CUPCAKES: 
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard-size muffin pan with baking-cup liners. 
Place chocolate and cocoa in medium bowl. Pour hot coffee over mixture and whisk until smooth. Set in refrigerator to cool completely, about 20 minutes. 
Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Whisk oil, eggs, vinegar, and vanilla into cooled chocolate-cocoa mixture until smooth. Add flour mixture and whisk until smooth. 
Divide batter evenly among muffin pan cups. Place one slightly rounded teaspoon ganache filling on top of each cupcake. Bake until cupcakes are set and just firm to touch, 17 to 19 minutes. 
Cool cupcakes in muffin pan on wire rack until cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes. Carefully lift each cupcake from muffin pan and set on wire rack. Cool to room temperature before frosting, about 1 hour.
Vanilla Bean Frosting

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup of shortening, room temperature (you could also use another stick of butter instead)
1 vanilla bean pod
4-6 cups of powdered sugar (based on how sweet you like your frosting)
2-5 Tbsp of whole milk or half-n-half (based on desired consistency)

Place the butter and shortening in the mixing bowl, and mix for 2-3 minutes. While the butter is mixing, remove the seeds from the vanilla bean pod. Add the seeds to the butter mixture. Next, add 4 cups of the sugar. If you feel it needs more sugar, add more 1/2 cup-1 cup at a time until you reach desired level of sweetness. Lastly, add the milk 1 Tbsp at a time until it reaches a creamy enough consistency to be piped or frosted.

Look! I saved one just for you!
Copyright – Memoria James – http://www.mangiodasola.com

Memoria is a polyglot xenophile from Texas who currently lives in Germany. She teaches English by day and Spanish by night and works on her food, language, and travel blog and Local Language eCourse in between. She speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, some German, and a little French. She loves to travel and learn the local language for every country she visits and hopes that she can pass this linguistic desire to others.

Author: Memoria James

Memoria is a polyglot xenophile from Texas who currently lives in Germany. She teaches English by day and Spanish by night and works on her food, language, and travel blog and Local Language eCourse in between. She speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, some German, and a little French. She loves to travel and learn the local language for every country she visits and hopes that she can pass this linguistic desire to others.

0 thoughts on “Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream”

  1. I totally remember you baking these chocolate cupcakes with vanilla bean frosting while I was gone out one evening for a walk around the track! I returned to the house and voila, sweet-smelling goodness greeted me and I "rewarded" myself for my diligent exercise by devouring at least two of these chocolate and vanilla drenched babies o:).

    I also remember getting my hair done the next day, and when my hair stylist ate one of your cupcakes, she got excited and exclaimed, "Did you actually make those yourself from scratch? The one I had was so good–it made my toes curl!" I think her comments honestly attest to the awesomeness of your baking, girl so I can only echo her sentiments because she said it all!

  2. YUM! These look amazing! Hershey's is my all-time favorite chocolate cake recipe (in fact, I'll be posting it tomorrow, actually!), but this one sounds great too! That frosting looks divine as well!

  3. Wow, these look heavenly Memoria! I love that you used an actual vanilla bean for the frosting – I hope you saved me a cupcake!

    Also, if you’re interested, I’m having a silicone muffin pan giveaway on my blog – You should enter!

  4. Que lindos los cupcakes y de chocolate una tentación,que maravilla,cariños y me quedo en tu blog,muchas bendiciones para tí buen año,besos.

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