Death Charge Cupcakes Recipes

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 muffin pans with cupcake liners.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Place the chopped chocolate in a small heat-safe bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Whisk until the chocolate is melted, and then let it cool for 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs on high speed until foamy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and slowly pour in the oil, whisking until it is combined, about 30 seconds. Next, slowly pour in the cooled, melted chocolate. Add the buttermilk mixture, and then pour in the granulated sugar and whisk the batter until it is smooth and liquid, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer, remove the bowl and add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix by hand just until the dry ingredients are incorporated, lifting and folding in from the bottom center. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again just briefly; the batter will look very lumpy, but stop mixing. Pour the batter through a medium-mesh sieve into a large bowl to remove any lumps. Press against the batter in the sieve with the spatula to push through as much batter as possible.
• Fill the cupcake liners half full with batter and bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks to cool completely before filling and frosting.
• To assemble: Core the center of each cooled cupcake using an apple corer. Place the cooled, thickened Dark Chocolate Ganache in a pastry bag. Cut a small bit off the bottom of the bag and fill each cupcake by inserting the tip of the pastry bag into the cored cupcake. Generously frost the top of each cupcake with the Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting.
• Place the chocolate chips in a heat-safe bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until you see tiny bubbles around the edges. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate and leave it alone for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the butter and vanilla extract to the melted chocolate and whisk everything together until it has a smooth consistency. Let the ganache cool to room temperature; the ganache will thicken upon standing.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the mascarpone cheese, cocoa powder, butter and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in the milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and then gradually beat in the remaining powdered sugar. If necessary, beat in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to reach desired consistency.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• For the cupcakes: Preheat the convection oven to 325 degrees F or a standard oven to 350 degrees F.
• In large mixer bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy with a heavy duty mixer. Add the melted chocolate and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Add half of the flour to the mixer bowl along with 1/2 cup of the half-and-half. Mix until the flour is mixed in, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the rest of flour mixture and the other 1/2 cup half-and-half. Mix until the batter is smooth and all of the flour lumps are gone.
• Fill 24 cupcake liners half full and bake for 20 minutes in the convection oven or 28 minutes in the standard oven. The tops of the cupcakes should be lightly browned. Check the cupcakes to make sure no batter sticks to a wooden toothpick when inserted into the cupcake. Cool the cupcakes completely.
• For the ganache: Put the chocolate chips, heavy cream and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each time, until the chocolate chips are melted and the ganache has the consistency of hot fudge. It will look like a mess at first but as you continue to stir it will start to form a thicker mixture. If the ganache becomes too thick to dip, put it back in the microwave for about 15 seconds and stir again.
• For the chocolate whipped mousse filling and topping: In large mixer bowl, beat the heavy cream, half-and-half and pudding mix until light and fluffy using heavy duty mixer. It should have the consistency of whipped cream. Put the filling in a pastry bag or zipper bag with a corner cut off.
• To assemble: Make a hole in the middle of each cupcake using a sharp knife. Be sure and leave a small amount of cake in the bottom of the hole. Fill the cupcakes using the filling in the bag. Using the same bag, frost the tops of the cupcakes with the filling. Put in the freezer until the topping mixture is cold and somewhat stiff, about 20 minutes.
• Dip each cupcake in ganache and immediately sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and garnish with a piece of chocolate bar. Let the cupcakes sit until the ganache is set. Then serve, or refrigerate until time to serve.

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• Make and bake cake mix as directed on box for cupcakes, using water, oil and eggs and adding vanilla. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely.
• Meanwhile, place bittersweet chocolate in heatproof bowl. In 1-quart saucepan, heat whipping cream until almost boiling. Pour over chocolate; let stand 5 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted and ganache is smooth. Cool 30 minutes.
• Cut out small section from top center of each cupcake; reserve cutout pieces. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoons ganache into each hole; replace removed cake pieces. Cool remaining ganache 1 hour. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until spreadable. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes. Drizzle with chocolate topping.