Chocolate Ganache Filled Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting

I made this recipe for the first time when my dad was in town in early August. That's when I fell in love. I made it for a friend's baby shower in August and then again for another baby shower just this week.  Hosting baby showers means that I get to pick out pretty little flowers to decorate with. Aren't these surprisingly pretty considering they are from the grocery store?

Ok, back to the real gem of this post: the cupcakes. I can't imagine another chocolate cupcake recipe tasting this chocolatey, dark, and rich. The cake itself is moist but stays together as you bite it; no one wants a cupcake that falls apart in your hand.

The frosting is a vanilla bean frosting that, if I'm completely honest with you, I could take or leave. In fact, next time, I'll probably opt to make the Billy Reece vanilla frosting recipe on Martha Stewart's site instead.  {Update: I have since made these cupcakes with a raspberry buttercream frosting topped with fresh raspberries, and they turned out great! The tartness cuts some of the richness of the inside. See image below, and I'll give the rough recipe to the frosting at a future point.)  The one pictured has a nice texture, but I can taste the butter more than I'd like. On the other hand, many people have asked me for this frosting recipe along with the cupcake recipe. Whatever you decide to do, opting for chocolate frosting would be entirely too rich. You need something to balance what's inside.

Oh, did I not mention the inside yet? There's a little surprise in there.

Yes, that is a dollop of ganache nestled nicely in the middle of that cupcake. No special equipment is needed, either. With the proper technique, it'll land perfectly in the center every time. The recipe will get into the details, but basically, you refrigerate the ganache to harden it up just the right amount. Drop some on top of the batter, and as they bake, it will fall into the center.

Then, when they come out, they look like this.

Recipe for the frosting to come... The runny ganache center is from a barely cooled cupcake.
It hardened as it fully cooled.

Let's stop messing around and get to the recipe! I promise, if you're going for sinfully moist and chocolatey cupcakes, this will be your go-to recipe.

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
From Cook's Illustrated

Yields 12-15 cupcakes

Ingredients
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (Ghirardelli 60% Cacao)
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa (like Hershey's Special Dark)
3/4 cup hot, strong brewed coffee
3/4 cup (4 1/8 oz) bread flour
3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 T Canola oil (1/4 cup + 2 T)
2 large eggs
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Ganache:
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine (Ghirardelli 60% Cacao)
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 T powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk until smooth the chocolate, cocoa, and hot coffee together.  Refrigerate until it's cool, about 20-30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the ganache ingredients (chocolate, cream, and powdered sugar). Microwave for 20 seconds. Whisk. If the chocolate still needs to melt, microwave for another 10 seconds. Whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes-- no more and no less! When you take it out, you're looking for a ganache that can be formed into a soft ball with a spoon. It's not fully solid (or it'll sink to the bottom of the cupcake) and it's not still runny, or it will just disperse within the cupcake. 


In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

Retrieve the large bowl of chocolate/cocoa/coffee from the fridge. Add the eggs, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Whisk to incorporate. Add all of the flour mixture, and whisk until smooth. The batter will be slightly runny, similar to brownie batter.

Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, filling 3/4 full. I use the large OXO portion scoop; 1 1/2 scoops per cupcake does the trick.

Next, top each cupcake in the center with a rounded teaspoon of ganache. I use half a scoop with the small OXO portion scoop.

Place on the center rack in the oven, and bake for 15-19 minutes, until the cupcakes are firm to the touch on top. A traditional toothpick test won't work here due to the ganache center.  Remove from the oven and let them sit in the pan for 10 minutes. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Easy Vanilla Bean Buttercream
America's Test Kitchen

Yields 3 cups (enough for about 24 cupcakes)

Ingredients
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
Caviar from 1 vanilla bean (or substitute in 1 T Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste)
2 1/2 cups (10 oz) powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 T heavy cream

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium high speed until it's smooth. Add the caviar. Beat for about 20 seconds more until it's well incorporated. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar. Once the butter has coated the sugar, increase the speed to medium for about 30 seconds. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Once combined (so that it doesn't fly out of the mixer), increase the speed to medium high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.

If you desire to pipe your icing on, I used a 1M star tip. Start with the tip in the center and pipe a spiral to the outside. Step back and admire what you just created!