Yeahyeah...I succumbed to vanity...I made cupcakes!
So this is coming from the haughty self-declared health junkie ironic I know, who scornfully announced that cupcakes are just muffins without nutritional value. Well I'm still sticking to my stand, especially after looking at cupcake frosting recipes which involves cups and cups of sugar /gulps. Nevertheless, the baking paper cups are piling up in my storage so I baked these last weekend for the admin support staff for my Chingay audition to bribe encourage them.
If you are an avid fan of Food Network channel, you'll see this short clip of Ina Garten making these cupcakes and they look so simple. And I like how the topping is a chocolate ganache instead of buttercream frostings made from cups and cups of sugar.
I followed the recipe but something's just not right about these cupcakes. I don't think it has something to do with my sugar reduction, the most it'll do is to make my cake less airy and rise less, but the outcome is so puzzling. The batter was too wet and it took extra long to cook, and the cake wasn't as great, it neither resemble a cake nor muffin. It was just...weird. Did some research and figured that it's the Hershey's chocolate syrup. A source mentioned that the formula has been changed, instead of sugar, it's now loaded with corn syrup. Probably that affected my cupcakes. The ganache is great though...then again, how can ganache ever go wrong?
Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes (adapted from Ina Garten's Barefood Contessa)
(Recipe states 12 cupcakes, I made 30 mini cupcakes)
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
113g unsalted butter
200g sugar (I use 150g)
4 extra large eggs, room temperature
325ml chocolate syrup
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
140g all purpose flour
Chocolate Ganache:
115g heavy cream
225g good semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp instant coffee granules
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 165°C and line a muffin pan with paper liners
2. Cream butter and suggar in a bowl until light and fluffy
3. Add in eggs one at a time till well combined
4. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla
5. Add flour and coffee granules and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat or the cupcakes will be tough
6. Scoop batter into muffin cups and bake for 30mins or until just set in the middle
7. Let them cool thoroughly in the muffin pan
8. For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips and instant coffee on top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring ocassionally
9. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the ganache (I spoon them over the cupcakes instead). Do not refrigerate
If you are an avid fan of Food Network channel, you'll see this short clip of Ina Garten making these cupcakes and they look so simple. And I like how the topping is a chocolate ganache instead of buttercream frostings made from cups and cups of sugar.
I followed the recipe but something's just not right about these cupcakes. I don't think it has something to do with my sugar reduction, the most it'll do is to make my cake less airy and rise less, but the outcome is so puzzling. The batter was too wet and it took extra long to cook, and the cake wasn't as great, it neither resemble a cake nor muffin. It was just...weird. Did some research and figured that it's the Hershey's chocolate syrup. A source mentioned that the formula has been changed, instead of sugar, it's now loaded with corn syrup. Probably that affected my cupcakes. The ganache is great though...then again, how can ganache ever go wrong?
Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes (adapted from Ina Garten's Barefood Contessa)(Recipe states 12 cupcakes, I made 30 mini cupcakes)
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
113g unsalted butter
200g sugar (I use 150g)
4 extra large eggs, room temperature
325ml chocolate syrup
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
140g all purpose flour
Chocolate Ganache:
115g heavy cream
225g good semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp instant coffee granules
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 165°C and line a muffin pan with paper liners
2. Cream butter and suggar in a bowl until light and fluffy
3. Add in eggs one at a time till well combined
4. Mix in the chocolate syrup and vanilla
5. Add flour and coffee granules and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat or the cupcakes will be tough
6. Scoop batter into muffin cups and bake for 30mins or until just set in the middle
7. Let them cool thoroughly in the muffin pan
8. For the ganache, cook the heavy cream, chocolate chips and instant coffee on top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring ocassionally
9. Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the ganache (I spoon them over the cupcakes instead). Do not refrigerate
Barefoot Contessa is my favorite too and your cupcake looks very chocolately yummy. Nice job.
ReplyDeletethanks zoe! u've got a lovely blog there :D
ReplyDeleteHi Jean,
ReplyDeleteI think there is far too much liquid in the recipe. That is the main reason why the cupcakes take very long to bake. Even after baking, the texture would be overly mushy due to the high ratio of moisture to flour.
I tried making cupcakes that had a ridiculously high amount of liquid too once and the batter was far too wet. Ever since then, I stopped using recipes that ask too much liquid. Just my 2 cents worth.