"Hostess" Cupcakes

I woke up yesterday morning, my first day home after a nice trip back to New England, with and itch to bake something. My parents are both fabulous cooks so when I am visiting, I don't spend much time in the kitchen. Plus we were going to a family get together at the Boy's cousins house that evening and I can't help myself, I just need top bring some sort of sweet treat! I had a recipe from my grandmother for a Black Chocolate Cake and Fluff Icing. I don't remember this cake but when I took the recipe my father raved about it. I don't have a good cake pan and if I am making something new to bring to someone's home I like cupcakes because I can try them and make sure they turned out ok before giving them to anyone else! Rather that make a straight chocolate cupcake, I decided to make a version of a Hostess Cupcake, using the fluff icing as the filling and to pipe a little "H" on each cake (the "H" is for my and Grandma's last name since it is a creation from the 2 of us, her recipe and my method of assembly) and making a chocolate ganche to top each cake.

Black Chocolate Cake
makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 heaping Tbsps unsweetend cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tbsp butter (this is the amount I used, on the recipe card it says butter the size of the walnut)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Line cupcake tin with papers or butter and flour each cup. Evenly divide the cake batter among the 12 cups. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, until a cake tester comes our clean.
3. Let cool completely before assembling.


Fluff Icing

1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla

1. Beat first 4 ingredients together in a small mixing bowl for 5-8 minutes. Add vanilla when mixture begins to thicken.


Chocolate Ganache

4.5 oz semisweet chocolate - chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Heat cream over medium high heat until just boiling. Pour over chocolate (In a nonreactive bowl) let sit for 30 seconds and then whisk until smooth.


Assembling cupcakes
1. Using the cone method (cut out a cone shape from the top, cut off the pointy cone part, stuff the whole with filling, then put the top back on) fill the cakes with fluff icing (you can spoon it or I used a ziploc bag that I just cut the corner off of to pipe the icing).
2. Spoon the chocolate ganache on top of each cake, use the back of the spoon to coax the ganache in an even layer over the top of the cake.
3. Using a piping bag with the smallest tip (or a ziploc bag with a very tiny cut in the corner) pipe on whatever letter or doodle you'd like.


I loved making these, first because it's my grandmother's recipe and second because I got to dunk the pointy part of the cone in the fluff icing and eat it as I assembled the cupcakes. They were a total hit at the family get together too!