Chocolate cupcakes, filled with chocolate ganache and topped with chocolate buttercream frosting is what we are all about today! I love getting cupcake orders for different events. I really enjoy creating something special for someones special day…and of course I try to make it the yummiest cupcake they have ever had! One of the guys James works with asked if I could bake two dozen chocolate cupcakes for his wife’s upcoming birthday. All Jerardo told me was that Theresa LOVED chocolate, so the more chocolate the better. Now that’s a cupcake I can stand behind!! Chocoholics unite! So I used my tried and true chocolate cupcake recipe to make the cupcakes. Click on the link to get the chocolate cupcake recipe. That recipe is sooooo good. Seriously. Make it…and then come back and tell me what you think!
I have made my chocolate cupcakes so many times, but never with a chocolate buttercream frosting, so I was excited to come up with a chocolate buttercream. And then I figured if I was going to make these “Death By Chocolate Cupcakes” then I needed to add a chocolate ganache filling to send them over the top. Because you can never have too much chocolate, right?! So this blog post is a two-for-one. I am including the chocolate frosting and the chocolate ganache recipe for you today. Yay! Now who’s craving chocolate?!
First, bake your preferred cupcake recipe (hopefully you take my advice and make mine) and then let your cupcakes cool completely. Next, you will make your chocolate ganache. Then while your ganache is cooling and firming up, you will whip up your buttercream frosting. If the idea of making your own chocolate ganache scares you, rest assured this is a super easy recipe. I would go as far as to say it is pretty much fool proof. Plus you get to make it in the microwave. And it’s chocolate. Did I mention chocolate?!
I used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Dark Chocolate for my ganache. The quality of the chocolate you use for your ganache is important. Trader Joe’s chocolate is great for making ganache, as is Ghirardelli. But I might have just wanted an excuse to go to Trader Joe’s…oh how I love that store!
I used a cupcake corer to remove the center of my cooled cupcakes. I saved the cupcake cores and set aside. After you have filled your cupcakes with ganache, you should have some ganache leftover. Crumble up the cupcake cores in the ganache and form into balls making chocolate ganache cake ball truffles. Roll balls in cocoa powder, sprinkles or powdered sugar. A bonus dessert 🙂
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and Chocolate Ganache Cupcake Filling
Print RecipeIngredients
- CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- 6-ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, cut into cubes
- 3 tablespoons (or less if you don't want it as sweet) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon brewed coffee
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
- 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon brewed coffee, cooled completely
- 5 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 heaping teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
PREPARE CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
In microwave-safe bowl, add chopped chocolate and cover the chocolate with the heavy whipping cream and butter. Microwave for 90-seconds. Remove bowl from microwave and whisk until all ingredients are combined and smooth.
Add powdered sugar, brewed coffee and vanilla extract to the chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth and all ingredients are incorporated. Set aside to firm up (I popped mine in the fridge for a few minutes while I cored my cupcakes). The ganache will firm up fast, so if you are going to pipe it into your cupcakes, don't leave it for longer than it takes for it to get to a pipe-able consistency.
Spoon or pipe ganache into cored cupcakes.
PREPARE CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
Brew your coffee and let sit to cool completely.
In the bowl of your stand mixer add the butter, and beat the butter using the paddle attachment, on medium-high speed for approximately 2-minutes. Turn the speed of the mixer to low and slowly add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Beat for approximately two minutes on medium speed until sugar and cocoa are incorporated into the butter.
Add the brewed coffee, heavy cream, vanilla extract and salt to the mixer. Beat on medium-low speed until all ingredients are incorporated, then increase speed to high and beat for 1-2 minutes. Add more powdered sugar or heavy cream to reach desired consistency.
Pipe onto cooled cupcakes using desired piping method. I love my Wilton 1A tip, which is what I used to frost these cupcakes.
Notes
Store in air tight container for one day. If longer than one day, store covered in the refrigerator.
Easiest way to fill your piping bag with frosting: tip side down, put your pastry bag in a glass and roll the sides of your pastry bag down around the glass. Fill the pastry bag up with your frosting, give the bag a couple of shakes to get the frosting all the way to the bottom and the air out and then twist the top! Now frost away!
Pretty 🙂 I made the Happy Birthday topper by dying vanilla fondant with purple gel paste and then used my Happy Birthday silicon fondant mould to make the shapes. I made my toppers a few days in advance and covered with plastic wrap so they would harden a little so they would stand up.
And a special cupcake for the birthday girl! Jerardo and Theresa loved the cupcakes! And the bonus truffles were quickly claimed by Ethan, which he totally loved.
Do you like chocolate? I know there are some people out there who don’t (really I don’t know you though). The more chocolate, the better as far as I am concerned! Funny though because the only “plain” chocolate I will eat are the See’s Candy Milk Chocolate bars. See’s Candy has the BEST chocolate. And they have a See’s Candy store a few blocks from my house. Within walking distance. I’m not sure if this is good or bad hehehe. Otherwise, I am a sucker for ooey-gooey chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. I need to come up with a recipe! What’s your favorite chocolate dessert?! Leave me a comment! I love hearing from y’all! And sign up for my free email subscription too while you are here 🙂
[optin-cat id=”528″]
XOXO,
Kelly
2 Comments
Vanilla Whoopie Pies - Kelly Lynn's Sweets and Treats
January 25, 2021 at 7:13 PM[…] So I went the total opposite here, and todays recipe is a vanilla whoopie pie filled with my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. I had leftover frosting from when I made my Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, and of course I am never one […]
Kit Kat Candy Cake
February 13, 2021 at 1:03 PM[…] this Kit Kat Cake I made a chocolate cake and frosted and filled it with my chocolate buttercream frosting. I used vanilla fondant and gel dye to dye the fondant grey for the letters and green for the […]