Chocolate-Spice Cupcakes

Hoppy Easter! Get it? Hoppy... like a bunny? My brother texted me that this morning and I thought it was clever. In honor of the holiday I suppose I should have made something better suited for the occasion, but I didn't. Well, that's not entirely true. I made "bunny bait" for my future in-laws a couple days ago (my parents get flowers, Dad really loves them) and shipped it to them so they'd have it in time for the holiday, but I didn't document it. Forgive me. Hope you enjoy the holiday in whatever way you choose to celebrate it, along with these chocolate-spice cupcakes (no link on Martha's site... I'm sensing a theme).

I was looking forward to these cupcakes because I haven't made anything chocolate in awhile and people like chocolate. So, when I took these to work I knew people would eat them. People are skeptical when you say you have chai-tea mini cupcakes. People are less skeptical when you say you have chocolate cupcakes. Human nature I suppose. But, the more cupcakes I can get rid of, the less I eat. Everyone wins. The only thing I wasn't really excited about when it came to these cupcakes was having to butter and flour the pan. Only this time instead of using flour I had to use cocoa powder. Wanna know what really makes a mess? Lining a cupcake pan with butter and then dusting it with cocoa powder.

Making the batter was easy, however messy, or perhaps splattery would be a better term. I didn't enjoy that part very much. Because I have a high-powered hand mixer (even when it's on the lowest setting) I know that certain things are going to make a mess. For instance, for the last couple recipes I've made, small pieces of butter and brown sugar have flown about when I mix them. But, they're for the most part solid substances so it's not so much of a mess. However, once I had mixed the butter, brown sugar and egg I added the molasses and water combined with baking soda to the bowl and as soon as I realized the consistency of what I had, I knew I was in trouble and there wasn't any way to avoid it. So, I did my best to put my arm around the bowl to try to hold in as much liquid as possible. Thankfully my t-shirt took the brunt of the mess and the walls, countertop and items sitting on the counter were left fairly unscathed. I don't enjoy cleaning up messes so I try to keep them as contained as possible.

Since the recipe told me I would only get 12 cupcakes from the batch I only buttered and cocoa powdered one cupcake pan. If I had a significant amount of batter left over I was just going to use liners for the rest. I really don't like making cupcakes without liners, it makes such a mess. The recipe said to fill the pans halfway. Confession. I filled them more than halfway. Again, since I was only supposed to get 12 cupcakes I figured using all of the batter on one batch would be okay. It was okay, but most of the cupcakes ended up being bigger than I wanted them to be, and some were a pain to get out of the pan after they were baked. Next time around I would probably not force all the batter into one batch. Had I not this time, I probably would have gotten around 14 cupcakes. The cupcakes were baked for 20 total minutes with a turn halfway through the baking time. I let them cool for 15 minutes in the pans and then removed them and let them cool on the wire racks while I made the ganache.

I have made this chocolate ganache glaze many times, but this time I was extra careful to very finely chop the semisweet chocolate because I didn't want any lumps in my glaze. Last time I made it I had some small lumps. While it was fine, I didn't like the look of the lumps. I wanted it to be silky smooth this time, and it was. Success! I spooned the glaze over the top of each cupcake and let it set.

The only thing left to do was add the candied ginger garnish. Does anyone need any candied ginger? If you do, I'm your girl. I have a ton of it. I knew candied ginger would be the hardest thing to find at the grocery store, but I was able to find it. Of course it was in a decent sized tupperware (like the size of a tub of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter), cost $4.79 and was labeled as crystalized ginger so I may have bought the wrong thing. I don't really know. But it looked right. The worst part is I only used the garnish for one cupcake, the one in the photo above. I didn't want to garnish all the cupcakes because I didn't want anyone at work to be scared away by the ginger garnish. My mission is to always get rid of the treats so I don't eat them. And in my rule book, as long as I make at least 1 cupcake from the batch exactly how the recipe says I have successfully completed said cupcake. I did that in this instance therefore, in my eyes, I successfully conquered these cupcakes.

I was also told by a coworker or 2 that these were the best cupcakes they've ever had. Now, that is a very lovely compliment, but I'm not quite sure if I believe that it's true. As a lover of cupcakes, this was not the best cupcake I've ever had. Even though I made it I can still be objective. Though I suppose everyone has different preferences when it comes to cupcakes. It was quite yummy, but not the best. I'd say that maybe the cupcake I'll be making next week has the potential to be the best. But, between you and me, I looked ahead to see what it is, and there's pretty much no way that's going to happen. And just to keep you in suspense and to keep you coming back for more... I'm not going to tell you what it is!

Coconut-Pecan Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

You may or may not remember a post from the past about these coconut cupcakes. In that post I expressed my dislike of coconut and even went so far as to complain about all the ingredients I had to buy to make them. One of those ingredients being coconut extract. If I remember correctly (and I know I do because I checked my post) I even asked in regards to the coconut extract, when am I ever going to use this again? Well my friends, today is the day! To both my surprise and displeasure, coconut extract is one of the components in coconut-pecan cupcakes (no link from Martha, sorry, blame her, not me).

To date, this recipe has been the most difficult in terms of being able to find all the ingredients that I needed. Luckily, the recipe listed some options for substitutions so I didn't have to leave anything out. Things I was unable to find included creamed coconut and unsweetened coconut flakes. I was able to find sweetened flaked coconut, which I used for both the batter and the garnish because that's the best I could do. I'm not sure what the difference is between flaked and shredded coconut, but the store only had flaked so that's what I used. According to the recipe it was permissible to substitute 4 tablespoons of butter for the creamed coconut. I always have plenty of butter so this was a great option for me.

As you know I'm coming off a brief cupcake hiatus so I'm still a little rusty. I didn't read the recipe all the way through, nor did I leave out all the ingredients to get to room temperature. There were only 2 (butter and eggs) and I remembered to leave out 1 (butter). Oh well. I at least took out the eggs while I was working with the coconut and pecans so they could get as warm as possible before I put them in the batter. Better than nothing.

The most time consuming portion of making these cupcakes was using the food processor to grind the coconut, and the toasting and food processing the pecans. After this process was complete the rest of the recipe was easy. I was skeptical of what the batter would taste like since it was riddled with coconutty items. However, if there was any potential saving grace it was that both the coconut and the pecans were ground up so you mostly got flavor and not the texture of the coconut and pecans. I enjoyed the batter, which gave me hope for the finished product.

In an exciting turn of events I now own 2 cupcake pans! My wonderful former college roommate and current bridesmaid got me a cupcake carrier and it comes complete with a cupcake pan as well. I don't think it gets any better than that. So now, I can fill 2 pans at once and if I need to do more than one batch of cupcakes, which I always do, I don't have to wait for the first pan to cool before I can bake another batch. It'll save me baking time as well as energy/power used to keep the oven at the appropriate temperature while I waited to put in the second batch. Everybody wins! Now, on to filling my 2 cupcake pans.

The batter wasn't quite at a pourable consistency so I had to use a spoon to fill the liners rather than my Pyrex measuring cup that I like to use when I can. I filled each liner to about three-quarters full. They weren't perfect but they were all pretty close in fill level. I definitely got less cupcakes than the recipe said I would, 6 less as a matter of fact. I'm not sure if I made the cupcakes too big, but they all came out to be a pretty good size, so I was pleased. Each batch baked 20 total minutes with a turn halfway through the baking time. I did contemplate baking 2 batches at once since I'm now the proud new owner of 2 cupcake pans. But I was concerned the cupcakes wouldn't bake evenly and didn't want to risk it.

Per my norm, I tried a cupcake before I ganached (technical term) and garnished them because I like to sample every phase of a cupcake. They were good. I was surprised. The texture of the coconut flakes was there just a little bit, but not enough to turn me off. I even had Bobby taste one, but I didn't tell him what kind they were because I knew he wouldn't try them if I did. He's not a fan of coconut either, but he agreed the cupcakes were good.

Next step, ganache and garnish. First, I toasted the coconut. Martha says that you should toast 2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut. Because I didn't have that, I toasted 2 cups of sweetened coconut flakes. I don't know if the difference between the two is all that much, but I had to work with what I had. I also don't know if the fact that the coconut I used was sweetened mattered either. But again, it's what I had. I don't think Martha would be too upset, do you? I toasted the coconut for 10 minutes and had I toasted it any longer I think I would have had some seriously burnt coconut. For the most part the coconut was toasted to perfection, but there was some that was a little crisp, so I tried to set that aside so it didn't get mixed with the good coconut.

While the coconut cooled I worked on the ganache. The ganache-making process is painless. A little chopping, measuring, simmering and stirring is all that's required. Once I had my ganache I dipped each cupcake in it and then garnished each cupcake with the toasted coconut. I tried out 2 different garnishing methods. For the first method I sprinkled coconut across the top of the cupcake, so the majority of the surface was covered. For the second method, I sprinkled the coconut in more of a little heap in the center of the cupcake, which looked much better.

Moment of truth... taste test. I won't say I loved them, but I will say they were quite good. Even the toasted coconut garnish didn't really bother me. Would I prefer the cupcakes didn't have it? Of course. But, is the garnish the deal breaker? No. I never thought such a thing would be possible. Martha does it again.

Devil's In a Paper Liner... Food Cupcakes

I've never understood where the name devil's food cake comes from. What does it mean? Is it because cupcakes/cake is bad for you? It certainly can't be an indication of taste because devil's food cake is delicious. I'm sure a simple Google search could find me an answer, but I've never been inspired to look. I'll just let it remain one of life's little unsolved mysteries, or some research that I'll save for a rainy day in the future.

I have made devil's food cupcakes before, but not with Martha's recipe. I've learned through my previous baking that devil's food cake tends to be a lighter version of a chocolate cake. I was most excited about this recipe because I knew I would be able to pawn off the cupcakes on co-workers, or friends (everyone loves chocolate!) and I would have the opportunity to make chocolate ganache for the first time. I've always wanted to try it, but I've purposely never come across a recipe that has required it. I've steered away from it because it always seemed time consuming and finicky, and I didn't want to spend all that time to only get a sub-par result.

The recipe for the cupcakes was fairly easy. The only thing that I thought was a bit strange was the part where I had to melt the butter with the sugar and then mix it for a few minutes in a saucepan on the stove. I've never done that with a cupcake recipe (or any recipe) before. I wasn't sure how long I was supposed to let the butter melt, if I was supposed to let the sugar dissolve, or what. Martha was not very specific. So, I let the butter melt, but didn't wait until the sugar dissolved because that seemed wrong. I mixed it for 4-5 minutes before I put the eggs in one at a time, and proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

The batter was scrumptious on a pre-baking taste test. I filled the muffin tins 3/4 full and baked for 20 total minutes, with a rotation halfway through the baking time. I even let the tins cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing the cupcakes from the pan and putting another batch in the oven. At some point it would probably make sense to invest in another cupcake pan. Why I haven't at this point is a mystery even to me.

I came away with 27 cupcakes, 5 less than the recipe said I would get, but that's probably because I'm a little more generous with filling the tins (and taste testing the batter) than Martha is. I like a full-looking cupcake anyway. They look so much nicer. As per the norm I gave a taste test (you know I love taste tests!) to a non-ganached cupcake and it was very good. Light, like devil's food cake normally is, but thick (if that makes sense), as well. In other words, you wanted milk, or if you're like me, ice cream, while eating the cupcake.

Now the chocolate ganache. After this experience I know why I've never attempted to make it before... it takes forever. The chocolate chopping and heavy cream and corn syrup simmering were pain free, but waiting for the ganache to set up was not. The recipe said to refrigerate the ganache and stir it at 5-minute intervals until it started to hold its shape. I was thinking after 20-25 minutes I would be all set. I thought wrong. After about an hour of stirring every 5 minutes I got sick of waiting. I'm not a saint, I only have so much patience.

I wanted to frost the cupcakes like Martha did, using a spatula and spreading it on, but my ganache wasn't thick enough to get the kind of look I wanted. And as I previously mentioned I didn't want to wait any longer for the ganache to become thicker, so I came up with my own plan. I decided to dunk the top of the cupcakes in the ganache and frost them that way. It actually left them with a nice smooth finish that I liked. Another thing I didn't love about the ganache was the taste. The recipe called for bittersweet chocolate, which I used, and the ganache itself was on the bitter side (didn't see that one coming). The next go-round I might make it with semisweet chocolate just to better suit my taste. However, the ganache when combined with the cupcake was actually quite good. The 2 flavors bring out the best in each other.

Finally for the finishing touches I added the chocolate curls. Martha said they were optional, and I'm not always obliged to opt, but in this case I did. I got through adding the curls to about 8 cupcakes when the chocolate for the curls started melting in my hand making a sticky, though delicious, mess. It was at that point I rethought my decision to opt in, and opted out of the chocolate curls. At least I gave them a solid try... that's more than I can say for the flaked coconut option I was given a few cupcakes ago. It's all about progress!