Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ganache and Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

The title of these cupcakes says it all.  Pure decadence.  My cake obsession lives on.  Which is kind of odd, given that I don't love cake.  Don't get me wrong.  It's not that I don't like it.  It's just that it's far from my favourite dessert.  If I'm going to eat something chock-full of calories, I'd much rather eat cheesecake.  Or a brownie.  Or even better, a peanut butter brownie.  I almost never take a slice of cake at birthday parties or at weddings, as cake just isn't my thing.  Or should I say wasn't???

I'm realizing that when it's done right, cake can be delicious in its own right.  My lemon curd filled cupcakes from last weekend were incredibly delicious.  So delicious that I had to give the vast majority of them away to stop myself from eating them all.  I've realized that using denser cakes, a filling and good icing makes it a whole new ball game. 

This weekend I dappled in some chocolate cake.  I used the baking soda-less version of Katie's sour cream chocolate cake and made the entire batch into cupcakes.  Wow... this makes A LOT of cupcakes!! I think I counted about 34 or so.  Though I did make them small as this recipe is super dense.  Great to pop into the freezer for when people stop by for a visit.

I then took out the centre of the cupcakes with an apple corer and filled each one with some delicious chocolate-peanut butter ganache, using a decorating bag and tip.  I found the recipe for this ganache here.

1 C heavy cream
1 1/2 C chocolate chip morsels (I used dark chocolate chips)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
3/4 C powdered sugar
1/2 C smooth peanut butter (I used soy butter, since I can't eat peanut butter right now, but think these would be even more delicious with peanut butter)

1.  In a small saucepan, combine the cream, powdered sugar, chocolate chip morsels and butter over low heat.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and add the peanut butter at the same time.  Stir until smooth.

2.  The ganache will be too hot to spread or pour.  Set in the refrigerator for several minutes.  Then place the ganache on the counter and stir once or twice over the next ten minutes until it has reached the desired consistency.

I found that the butter set on the top of the ganache as it cooled (or perhaps it was the oil from the soy butter?).  So I just whisked it all together again before using.  

This recipe makes A TON of ganache.  Even too much to fill all 34 cupcakes!  I stuck a full tupperware container into the freezer with the remainder for some other cupcake project.

I then topped each cupcake with some chocolate cream cheese icing that I found on the cupcake project blog, using a number 96 decorating tip. Yum. 

8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 C unsalted butter at room temperature
4 C sifted powdered sugar (you can decrease this amount if you don't care about it being as stiff for piping)
1/2 C cocoa powder

1.  Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.  It's important that they both be at room temperature prior to mixing so that they will mix together well.

2.  Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.

3.  Mix in cocoa powder.

For instructions on how to pipe icing, click back to my post on lemon cupcakes.

I'm realizing that I'm going to have to put a halt to making these kinds of cupcakes for awhile, as it's just too time consuming with little kids.  I made the cupcakes early Saturday and didn't have them filled and iced until Sunday evening.  Though since there are so many, they'll last in the freezer for quite awhile.

I shared some of my lemon cupcakes with Hilary, my kinesitherapist, who offered to taste-test all of my cakes (baha... she has no idea what she is getting herself into!!).  So I'll have some of these with me for you tomorrow, Hilary. 

Difficulty level: moderate to difficult and somewhat time consuming