Death by Chocolate Mum Cupcakes

I just got back from a long weekend in South Carolina. I was there to attend my cousin’s wedding. I had a fantastic time; I got to wear a fabulous, pretty dress, see Charleston for the first time, and buy myself a gorgeous new bag. All-in-all, a great weekend, if I do say so myself.

Looking fab! FYI-my sis did not wear jeans to the wedding; she’d just changed from her Matron of Honor gown :)

I shared a hotel room with my oldest sister and my mom while I was there.

My poor, long suffering mother.

I don’t know how she puts up with us.

The first night, my sister and I lay in bed giggling and making fake fart noises until one o’ clock in the morning.

We’re classy like that.

Seriously.

That is what I, 31 year old wife, step mom, supposed grown up, and my 35 year old sister (also a wife and mother, a student, and supposedly mature) did.

It. was. awesome.

It’s amazing to me how spending time with my sisters can instantly revert us into immature 12 year olds. Amazing, and wonderful. I really believe that we added at least 10 more years to our lives through laughter this weekend.

Which is a good thing, because I’m going to be trying my hardest to kill us all today with chocolate and cupcakes.

Did you know that today is National Chocolate Cupcake Day?

It is.

Really.

Isn’t that the most amazing holiday idea pretty much ever?!

I think so. And I’m totally celebrating it. So…

Happy National Chocolate Cupcake Day! I have the perfect cupcake to celebrate with; it’s to die for, and totally worth it.

I love the way these cupcakes look. I didn’t really expect them to be so perfectly Fall when I envisioned them, but they work beautifully as little mums (even though mums don’t have centers like these have). I think they’d be gorgeous with different colored, and striped, frostings. In fact, I can hardly wait to try them again…but with beautiful Fall colors!

Plus, the decorations on these were simple and quick; always a good thing these days.

I used the same cupcake recipe for these that I used for my salted caramel mocha cupcakes, except I tweaked it to yield fewer cupcakes, made them twice as chocolaty, and added mini chocolate chips. All brilliant ideas, if I do say so myself.

If you need more cupcakes, just use the recipe linked above, but double the amount of cocoa powder, and add three quarters to one cup of mini chocolate chips (you’ll end up with about 30 cupcakes).

Once my cupcakes were cooled, I made some dark chocolate ganache to dip them in. You may remember from my s’more cupcake post that I wasn’t happy with my current ganache recipe, but I think I’ve tweaked it enough that I finally have what I’ve been longing for. This ganache is smooth, glossy, and thick enough to act as a frosting, but thin enough to drizzle if desired. It’s exactly what I’ve been wanting.

Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the ganache, making sure to cover them completely, and tap off the excess.

The ganache should not run down the sides or make a huge mess, if it is runny, then you have added to much heavy cream to it. Allow these to set for 30 to 60 minutes, or chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Once my ganache was set, I made some fluffy milk chocolate buttercream. To make the mums, fit a decorating bag with a large writing tip.

Squeeze a row of chocolate frosting dots all the way around the edge of the cupcake. On each cupcake, I got 13 or 14 dots around the edge.

Then, use a small spoon, spatula, or other rounded utensil to press gently into each dot of frosting and drag towards to center of the cupcake. It only takes a slight amount of pressure to do this, and it’s crazy easy.

This is how your cupcake should look once each dot is done.

Now add a second ring of frosting dots around the cupcake, set closer to the center. I always got seven or eight dots on this ring.

Repeat the spoon dragging with this row of frosting, being careful to keep the center from piling up with frosting (you will have to scoop away excess bits once or twice).

Finally, fill the center of each cupcake with a little spoonful of ganache. If you decide to skip that ganache for these, you can continue to fill the centers of these with more frosting, nuts, candy, fruit…just about anything you like, and any of it would taste wonderful.

Now, eat a cupcake. Sigh in contentment. Repeat.

I mean, you have to repeat. I don’t know how you could ever stop at just one. Even as rich as they are, they’re irresistible.

If you’re feeling especially cheeky, chop up some good quality white chocolate, or make shavings, and sprinkle some on top. I don’t think the cupcakes are quite as pretty this way, but I love the sweet addition of the white chocolate on top. It’s just another layer of chocolaty goodness to die by. Enjoy!

Death by Chocolate Cupcakes [Printable Version]
Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (4 ounces or 125 ml) strong brewed coffee, hot
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 125 ml) hot water
1/2 cup (56 grams) cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups (191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoons (5 ml) vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, or a two cup measuring cup, stir the cocoa powder into the hot water until dissolved. Combine the cocoa mixture with the coffee. Set aside until cooled to room temperature, or place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Once the cocoa/coffee mixture has cooled, preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners; set aside.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined; stir in the vanilla. Sprinkle 1/3 of the flour mixture over the bowl and mix until just combined. Add 1/2 of the chocolate mixture, mixing again until just combined. Repeat with reamining flour and chocolate mixtures, ending with flour. Mix only until flour is just incorporated. Do not over mix.

Place 3 tablespoons of batter in each cupcake liner. Bake for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Once cooled, dip each cupcake in dark chocolate ganache and frost with milk chocolate buttercream. Garnish with white chocolate, if desired.

Dark Chocolate Ganache [Printable Version]

Ingredients

**I only made a half batch of this for 18 cupcakes**

4.5 ounces (128 grams) bitter- or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
scant 1/2 cup (about 3.5 ounces or 114 ml) heavy cream

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl.

Bring the heavy cream to a gentle boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Whisk the cream and (now melted) chocolate together into smooth and glossy.

Milk Chocolate Buttercream [Printable Version]
Make 24 ounces

Ingredients

**I only made a half batch of this for 18 cupcakes**

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 lb. (16 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the butter for about 30 seconds. Beat in the sugar and salt until combined. Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream and whisk on high for 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and mix until thoroughly combined and light in color. If the frosting is too thick, add more cream, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Stir in the vanilla.

Recipes by Darla

Tagged as: Chocolate, Chocolate Buttercream, Chocolate Cupcakes, Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Mums, Death by Chocolate, Death by Chocolate Mum Cupcakes, Frosting, Mum Cupcakes, Mums, Recipes