Faux-stess Cupcakes!

Sorry, I know I am late! Valentines day was nearly a month ago, but this is the first chance I have had to update. So Happy belated Valentines Day to the ones that did not get to enjoy these delicious treats! I made these to make others happy and I believe I succeeded! They were fun to make and watching people enjoy them is one of my favorite things in the world!! Try this recipe, you will not be disappointed! Thanks again to Annie's Eats! And thanks to my Mom for the cake decorating set for Christmas because without it I would have been without the right pastry tips that were extremely useful in the making of these cupcakes!

Happy Baking, friends! :)

Also, side note before I give the recipes: I did not use Annie's recipe for the cake, I used Hershey's, so that is the one I will post! Don't worry, it's only the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted! haha!



Here it is:

Hersey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare your cupcake tins.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. 10 to 12 servings.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

From Annie's blog here are the recipes for the filling and the frosting:

For the filling:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar
¾ cup Marshmallow Fluff (or marshmallow creme)
1 ½ tbsp. plus 1 tsp. heavy cream

For the frosting:
¼ cup heavy cream
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened



To make the filling, in a medium bowl beat together the butter, confectioners’ sugar, Marshmallow Fluff and 1 ½ tablespoons of the heavy cream until fluffy. Reserve ½ cup of the mixture – transfer the rest to a pastry bag fitted with a ¼ – inch round tip. Beat the remaining 1 teaspoon of cream into the reserved ½ cup of filling, cover and reserve.
Gently insert the tip of the pastry bag about ½ – inch deep into the top of each cupcake and lightly squeeze in some of the filling.

To make the frosting, in a small saucepan heat cream over medium heat until steaming, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until smooth. Transfer to a small bowl and dip the top of each cupcake to thoroughly coat. Spoon the reserved filling into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain tip and pipe curlicues across the center of each cupcake. Refrigerate the cupcakes for 10 minutes to set the frosting.




Some notes:
Chocolate Ganache is no joke. Mine tasted great, but I wish it would have looked smoother. I also wish I had a trick to make it turn out better, but this is the first time I have ever made this, so it is what it is!

Like I said above, I have the pastry tips needed for these cupcakes. If you do not I suggest two things: 1. to insert filling try using an apple corer to take out part of the center of the cake and then pipe in the filling using a ziplock that you have filled with the frosting and then cut the tip off. It is not really the desirable method, but it could work! 2. To pipe on the white swirls (which you can write words in-like I did!) you can use the ziplock method as well. I would make sure the tip is smaller though! But, just so you know, if you are friends with me and live close by, I am willing to share-it's all in the name of cupcakes!! Also, sorry I never got a picture of the cupcake cut open--I think you all get it though, it is just like a Hostess Cupcake, but oh, so much better!

Most importantly, have fun and enjoy this choclatey-delight!

Until next time,
PernaCakes