Martha Cupcake Challenge #36 & #37: filled chocolate cupcakes

So, I actually have two recipes that I tried. But the first one, I have no pictures of because the camera was dead :( I made Mint filled brownie cupcakes. They have a peppermint patty inside. Turned out great, love the chocolate-mint combo, altho the tops of the cupcakes were quite crackly, like brownies are.

Second recipe, which I do have pictures of, is Cream-filled Chocolate Cupcakes. These are like the Hostess cakes we all had as kids. But with no preservatives or chemicals, just pure natural ingredients.
The cakes were easy, a chocolate-sour cream recipe. I find that a lot of chocolate cake recipes call for sour cream, not only for the moisture but also the tang. Martha's recipe yields 12 jumbo cupcakes, but I don't have jumbo cupcake pans, so I ended up with 28 regular cupcakes.

After cooling completely, I made the cream. It's just butter blended with marshmallow fluff. This was actually the first time ever that I used marshmallow fluff for anything. Mixing it with the butter gives it a creamier texture. When I put away the jar in the cupboard, it ended up next to the jar of Nutella. hmmmm... that sounds good!


Anyways, Martha says to dig a hole out of the bottom to fill with the cream. But I baked mine in paper liners and didn't want to fuss with that, so I filled them from the top. First I tried simply squeezing the filling into the cupcake, but I didn't get enough filling in there. So instead I used an apple corer to core out the cupcakes, saving the bits I removed. Then I filled them up, and replaced the tops.
To disguise the imperfect tops, I piped the signature white squiggle over the part that had been removed and replaced. No one will ever know! Unless they read this, that is.


I had to bust one open to see how it looked, and it looks yummy!

I was proud that mine looked as cute as Martha's, even though my technique was a bit different. These were easy to make, and are sure to delight kids young and old.

Martha Cupcake Challenge #28- S'mores cupcakes

So, I've been dying to make S'mores cupcakes, and I finally got it together to make them. These were a multi-step cupcake. Since they're topped with marshmallow frosting, they must be served immediately after they're made. So I made the cupcakes the day before, and did the frosting in the morning.
The cake part turned out well. The recipe called for graham flour, which Whole Foods didn't have. So instead I bought organic honey graham crackers, and ground them up in my food processor. It gave a really nice graham-y flavor to the cupcakes.
Then I made the ganache, a chocolate glaze on top. The ganache recipe in the book always makes way more than I need, so I'll have to figure out something else to do with the rest. I dipped the tops in the ganache, which also seals in the moisture. All this I did in one day.
The next day I made the frosting. This did not work at all. It's a marshmallow frosting, made with gelatin and a sugar syrup. I guess I did it wrong, cuz there was a big goop of gelatin in the mixing bowl that never got mixed in properly. And, the pictures showed a huge dome of piped marshmallow on top of the cupcakes, but I didn't have nearly enough. I could barely manage a tiny dollop on each one. And it was not pipe-able at all. Not good.

Also, my kitchen torch didn't work! You're supposed to brulee the marshmallow, but I couldn't figure out how to work the torch, and I lost the box with the instructions. sad :(
So I delivered the cupcakes, and when I took the lids off the containers, all the marshmallow came off, because it was attached to the lid! But this was a good learning experience. Next time, I will put mini marshmallows on top of the ganache while it's still wet, so they stick. Then I will torch them, to get them all nice and brown on top. (ps- I love the way Craig Ferguson says "marshmallow". Check it out)
Next week, a foolproof recipe... Irish Car Bomb!