Chocolate Ganache Raspberry Filled Chocolate Cupcakes...a revisit

These cupcakes may be looking familiar to you, that's because I made them back in February for my friend Nicole when she had just given birth to her baby girl, Paisley.  Fast forward to last month and I was planning Paisley's baby shower! because here in Vancouver they seem to have showers after the baby has been born! 

It was soooo much fun to plan! and there will be a ton more photos coming next time but for now I leave you with these cupcakes.  I knew they had to be the centrepiece of the dessert table because Nicole had loved them so much the last time I made them! So it seemed only right that I should bake them again! Only this time I tweaked them slightly and slathered on generous amounts of ganache, because incase you missed my gushings on ganache last time I'll give you a recap of my new baking mantra:

Everything tastes better with ganache in it! 

I also took a few more pictures this time around just to try and lure you in a little more and tempt you into making some of these bad boys! Remember that raspberry infused chocolate cream cheese filling? You can't go wrong if you start filling a moist buttermilk chocolate cupcake with the stuff! 

Once I plugged the tops of the cupcakes, I reunited myself with that dreamy silky ganache, and I slathered it on!

The fresh blended raspberry frosting came next...

finished off with a carefully selected fresh raspberry (because only the prettiest ones make the cut!)

I was SO sure I'd have some of these cupcakes left over! I baked up a storm for the baby shower and a few people were no shows on the day but sadly (for me) these were the only things that disappeared faster than you could guess the word 'pregnant' in baby charades (one of our friends Denise was pregnant at the time and so pointing to her belly was a pretty easy way to win that word!) - pictures of all the fun of the games to come next time too! 

Chocolate Ganache Raspberry & Chocolate Filled Cupcakes:

Makes 12

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

For the cupcakes:

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup salted butter, firm but not cold

1 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda.  Set aside.

In a separate large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed, whip together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy for about 3-4 minutes.  Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until combined.  Measure out buttermilk in a liquid measuring cup and add vanilla extract to milk, then whisk to combine.  Working in 2 separate batches, add buttermilk mixture followed by flour mixture to butter mixture, mixing just unti combined after each addition (batter will be thick).  

Fill cupcake cases 2/3 full.  Bake in a preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of each cupcake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes in baking pan until transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:

225g cream cheese

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp raspberry puree (I blended fresh raspberries until liquid, and then sieved out the seeds)

1/4 cup whole fresh raspberries (about 7)

Blend cream cheese and unsalted butter together with an electric mixer until incorporated.  Beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder until combined.  Stir in the raspberry puree and beat in the whole raspberries until only little fragments can be seen.

Using a knife, or a cupcake corer if you're fancy like that, cut a circular hole in the middle of the cupcakes.  Remove the cake and cut the top circle part of the cut out cake off.  Save this part for later.

Put your filling in a piping bag fitted with a nozzle.  Pipe the filling into each cupcake hole, and then plug the top of the cupcake with the round cake disc you saved from earlier.

Chocolate Ganche:

Makes enough to frost the above, with plenty to spare...and you can eat the rest with a spoon! I always do

From Tracey's Culinary Adventures

12 oz. dark/bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 cup double/whipping cream

1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar

1 1/2 tbsp corn syrup

3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl.  

Combine the cream, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Immediately pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute.  

Whisk until the mixture is smooth and blended, then add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until completely incorporated.  Let the mixture stand at room temperature to thicken before topping the cupcakes.  

Once cool, using a palette knife spread a generous amount of ganache on top of each cupcake.

For the frosting:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup fresh raspberries, blended into puree

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

12 raspberries (for garnish)

Puree the raspberries in a blender.  Pass them through a sieve into a bowl.  It may take a little while but keep using a spoon to pat the raspberry liquid through the sieve until only seeds remain.

Mix the butter and half the sugar together in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.  Once they are well blended, add the remaining sugar.  Beat together until smooth and creamy, about 4 minutes.  Stir in the vanilla extract and raspberry puree.  I like to add the raspberry puree a few teaspoons at a time because it's a fine line when using fruit between when it's added a good amount of flavour or when it adds too much liquid to the frosting.  

Taste it to see if it tastes raspberry enough, and see if the frosting is stiff enough.  If it needs to be stiffer, add more sugar, if it needs to be more flavourful then add more puree.

Pipe a swirl of raspberry frosting on top of the chocolate ganache layer, and add a single fresh raspberry on top.  You could also drizzle with chocolate for extra decadence...because everything looks better with drizzle! 

Serve, Eat and Enjoy!