mini vanilla cupcakes with chocolate ganache center

I love Mrs Millmans recipe for chocolate ganache or frosting:

This will last in the fridge for about 5-6 days in a plastic container.  I had some leftover so I decided to inject my vanilla cupcakes with it.  I used my piping bag.  Use a tip that you can easily pierce through the cupcake with.   You want a decent size tip opening to allow the ganache to flow… don’t go too small, it will take you forever.  I used a #21 star tip. They do make a tip for this very purpose(# 230).

Makes 6 cups

• 24 ounces semisweet chocolate morsels
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon light corn syrup

Directions

1. Put chocolate and cream into a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat; stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, until thick, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in corn syrup. Transfer to a large, wide metal bowl. Refrigerate until frosting is cool enough to spread, about 2 hours, checking and stirring every 15 minutes. Use immediately

valentine party cake

these pink little princess cakes were made for, well.. a little princess! again, vanilla/vanilla…sorry but it is really my favorite and most commonly enjoyed, so i feel it is a safe bet for kids…

with each batch of cupcakes I make, i learn something new…this time, I learned that i like to fill the cupcake papers a little bit less…i do not care for a big popover on my cupcake, it looks so much more delicate when the cake rises just to about the top of the paper. this time I filled the liners by using an ice-cream scoop, i usually pipe the batter into the papers, it’s more time consuming but much more accurate and very neat. i think that i prefer the latter method…

I am making another batch (2 dozen) bright and early tomorrow morning for another friend…

simple swirl cupcake

this is a simple and pretty quick way to ice cupcakes…you will need a pastry bag and an extra large star tip…

don’t forget to also get the extra large coupler!  i made that mistake and had to go back to store…

more cupcakes please!

 

ok so I am trying to make my cupcakes a litttle yummier and a little prettier… i love the magnolia cupcake recipe and i probably should not mess with it, but i do smoetimes feel like it could be a little bit dry, so today I added 3 tablespoons of sour cream to the recipe and I think the result is kind of nice…hard to say  because instead of using self rising flour (what the recipe calls for) i used cake flour and just added 1 tablespoon of baking soda,,,they puffed up a bit more than usual… which was really not a bad thing…i always felt that the magnolia recipe left my cupcakes kind of flat on top…  so here are some samples…i made the cake batter pink for valentines day, not sure i love it…my husband is insisting that it is not pink that it is orange..i think it is sort of a pinkish coral salom-ey color–i quite liked it…jury is out on that one…

more cupcakes please!

 

completed snowmen cupcakes

magnolia cupcakes

this weekend i made a batch of magnolia cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.

they came out great.  super  yummy!  great recipe… here it is, for your cupcake eating pleasure…

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_32146,00.html