Thursday, February 12, 2009

ICE-7: CHOCOLATE COFFEE CUPCAKES W/ ESPRESSO BUTTERCREAM FILLING, MOCHA GANACE AND WHITE CHOCOLATE WHIPPED CREAM


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The ultimate caffeine cupcake. Espresso, mocha, and cawfee (for all my fellow NY'ers) oughta give you a lift on those dreadful early mornings when it's still dark out. You know the ones. I experience them daily. 530AM visits to the gym. Not a pretty sight.

This month's Iron Cupcake secret ingredient is, as you can see, coffee. I love the flavor of coffee in baked goods and especially ice cream! Coffee has such a powerful rich flavor and paired with the right ingredients can create a delightful treat.

Daniel Boulud is a famous French chef with restaurants all over the country, most notably NYC--lucky for me, I live here! One of my most favorite restaurants belongs to him, Cafe Boulud, which is this fantastic French cuisine restaurant with the most mouth-watering unique dishes. While searching around for the quintessential coffee flavored cupcake, I stumbled upon Daniel Boulud's chocolate coffee cupcake recipe. How can a girl resist? I was sold.

This cupcake has a chocolate coffee base to the actual cake. It is filled with an espresso buttercream which I created myself for an extra umph and then topped with a mocha ganache and white chocolate whipped cream (which was to die for). I sprinkled cocoa powder on top and added a chocolate covered espresso bean for garnish. Holy DELICIOUS! These cupcakes were a real hit and boy was I glad that I entrusted my Iron Cupcake entry with Mr. Boulud himself. I served these in coffee mugs on tea plates adorned with cappuccino chips. If you're looking for a coffee kick, go with these!


Prizes provided by Etsy artists:
DIANAEVANS
A pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES
Also, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice!
SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be adding some prizes for February.
Corporate prize providers:
HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS
HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
JESSIE STEELE APRONS
CUPCAKE COURIER
TASTE OF HOME books
UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM
Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers

Chocolate coffee cupcakes with Mocha Ganache and White Chocolate Whipped Cream

(Recipe By Daniel Boulud)

Cupcakes
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup instant coffee powder
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter -- at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs

Mocha Ganache
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup coffee beans -- crushed
8 ounces milk chocolate -- finely chopped (I used Starbucks Mocha chocolate bar)
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar -- sifted

Espresso Butterceam (my own recipe)
1 cup butter, softened or at room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
3-4 Tablespoons Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso & Cream, or until desired consistency

White Chocolate Whipped Cream
8 ounces of white chocolate chopped (I used Lindt)
2 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract


To make the chocolate-coffee cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 30 standard muffin cups with paper liners.

Combine the milk, cocoa, coffee and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, constantly whisking, until the cocoa and coffee have dissolved. Let cool and pour into a liquid measure.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk mixture in three batches, ending with the liquid. Fill each muffin cup halfway with the batter. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the mocha ganache:( I whipped the ganache once cooled to make it fluffy)
Combine 1 cup of the heavy cream and coffee beans in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let infuse for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean sauce-pan and bring back to a boil. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl and pour the hot cream over it, stirring slowly, until the ganache is smooth. *If you want a fluffier ganache which makes for easier and more attractive application, wait for the ganache to cool to room temperature then put in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whip on high speed until desired consistency* Spoon enough ganache over each cupcake to fill the liners to the rim.

To make the White Chocolate Whipped Cream:
Put the white chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl. In a small sauce bring 1/2 cup of the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand for 1-minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the white chocolate cream stand until cooled to room temperature.
In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters beat the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream and vanilla until softly whipped. Stir in the white chocolate cream and beat until fairly stiff. taking care not over beat, which would cause the ganache to separate.

2 comments:

Cali Cakes said...

This makes me hungry just looking at it! Super pretty too. Not too extravagant which I love. I can only imagine how good it taste! I am going to have to borrow your espresso buttercream recipe to makes my coffee addict friend some cupcakes. I have a feeling she will love these...You have my vote for sure!

Anonymous said...

This sounds incredible...layers and layers of chocolatey goodness, yum!