Thursday, May 17, 2012

Vanilla Cheesecake Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Icing

I had to make my own treat for myself on Mother’s Day, so I decided to make what is now my very favorite cupcake.  It is a variation of the chocolate cheesecake cupcake, made with a homemade yellow cake rather than a box mix.

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Homemade Yellow Cake:  This is a half recipe that will make 12 to 16 cupcakes, double it if you need more cupcakes or want a make a regular layer cake.

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 cup all purpose or cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in one egg at a time.  Add vanilla.  In a small bowl, mix together four, baking powder, and salt.  Alternately beat in 1/4 of the flour mixture and then 1/4 of the milk until well blended.  Fill greased or paper lined cupcake tins 1/2 full with batter.

Cheesecake Filling:

1 block cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

Beat sugar and cream cheese until very smooth.  Beat in egg until well blended.  Place in either a piping bag with a round tip, or use a ziplock bag and cut off the corner.  Slightly insert tip or corner of ziplock bag into middle of the cupcake batter in each tin and squeeze enough filling in so that the amount of batter in each tin swells to about 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes at 350 for 16 to 18 minutes.  You want them to be slightly underdone.

Ganache Icing – My favorite part!!!

8 oz. quality semi-sweet or dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar

In a small sauce pan, heat cream until it begins to simmer.  Pour hot cream over chocolate.  Let it sit for a minute or two to allow the chocolate to begin to melt.  Whip the chocolate and cream together until smooth (it usually takes several minutes for the chocolate to fully melt and incorporate), add in powdered sugar.  Allow mixture to cool completely.  You may also stick the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to speed the cooling process.  Once completely cool, use the whip attachment on your hand or stand mixer and whip until the ganache turns a lighter shade of brown and is a good consistency for decorating cupcakes.

Decorate cooled cupcakes and enjoy!!!

4 comments:

Jaren said...

They should totally have taste-testing available through the internet...because I'm dying for these now!

The Jackson Family said...

These look wonderful! I am in the middle of taking cake classes at Hobby Lobby and I have been looking for a yummy cupcake recipe for this week and I think these sound perfect! Thanks for sharing! :)

Nana said...

They are the best. Thanks for the recipe.

Kelly said...

Now we are TALKING!!! I'm in bed and my mouth is watering!!! Oh my gosh I can't get down to my kitchen fast enough to whip these puppies out. I still day dream of your cup cakes you made the night we were moving.. You shared that recipe with me too and each time I make them we not only think about you guys and miss you but I gain a good 5 lbs! It's all worth it!

Thanks for sharing.. I'd have to say making your own mothers day treat may not be ideal but when the treat is that good... Its all Good!