my cupcake project

This post has been long overdue....I was inspired by my friend Gauri to make cupcakes...She posted so many pretty pics of cupcakes on facebook, I kept craving to have them...and of course the baker in me stopped me from buying them from superstores...so couple of weekends earlier I undertook the "cupcake project". I tried my hand at dark chocolate cupcake, eggless banana chocolate cupcake, and banana chocolate chip cupcake...I also perfected my chocolate ganache and tried yummy dark chocolate frosting.                    

Dark Chocolate cupcake:

Dark Chocolate with dark chocolate frosting

This one I picked it directly from Sally's Baking addiction, The link to the recipe is here (death by chocolate cupcake) . I used exactly same recipe, with the exception that I added chocolate chips to the batter. Also, the cupcakes were done in around 12 min not 18 min per the recipe. So you might want to keep a close watch on them after 10 min. (my one batch of cupcakes were ready in 10 min) so you want to be alert so as to not burn them.

Dark Chocolate frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese softened at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
1/2 cup cocoa powder (i used dark cocoa powder)
2 cup confectioners' sugar

Method:
beat the cheese and butter until smooth and add sugar, beat further until mixed well, add cocoa powder and combine everything together...


Eggless banana chocolate cupcake:

Eggless banana chocolate cupcake with dark chocolate frosting 

1. 1 cup white sugar
2. 1 cup flour
3. 1/2 cup cocoa powder
4. 3/4 tsp baking soda
5. 3/4 tsp baking powder
6. 1/4 tsp salt
7. 1 cup mashed banana (2 medium sized ripe bananas)
8. 1/2 cup warm water
9. 1/2 cup milk
10. 1/4 cup vegetable oil
11. 3/4 tsp vanilla

Method

• Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet ingredients in another bowl..
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix it well, so that you get an even mix, no streaks should be seen
• Pour the batter in cupcake tray...the consistency is quite fluid, do not worry :)
• Bake for 15 min at 350 deg F....keep an eye on it after ten min...Check with knife or toothpick to see if it is done.

Chocolate Ganache

chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache

This ganache recipe has different proportions of chocolate and cream...I experimented as I thought my 

earlier one was not as light

Ingredients:

• ½ cup choc chips
• ¼ cup + 1tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp sugar.

Method:

• heat the cream and butter on stove/ microwave till the mix just begins to  boil
• then pour the mix on chocolate chips and mix it well, till chocolate chips have melted and forms a uniform mix, let it cool...
• then whisk it with a whip to make it light and fluffy spread it over the cooled cake with a spatula...
• This time I whipped it for 15 min (i use whip it with a regular beater not an electric one)

I like this recipe better than the previous recipe as the ganache is very light and fluffy and stands on its own..doesn't drip....

Banana chocolate chip cupcake:

This one is the same recipe as my chocolate chip banana loaf, I just poured the batter in cupcake pan...I baked it at 350 deg F for 10- 12 min (I baked mine for 15 min and they were little burnt at the bottom)...check with the knife if it comes out clean...nevertheless, they were yummy...we finished them all :)

Go ahead and try these recipes and let me know what you think of it.....