Cupcakes are one of those great treats that transcend generational barriers – children love them, adults secretly (or not so secretly) do too and they’re becoming more and more popular as a replacement to ornate 3 tiered wedding cakes or as the finger food of choice for baby showers or birthdays. As I’ve mentioned before, living in New York pushed me over the edge. I was already cupcake-obsessed, but New York opened a new world I never knew existed. I had never tasted so many different types of cupcakes and I loved every minute of it. Montreal is not really a cupcake town which has encouraged me to make more of them at home.
These cupcakes are an easy classic. The batter is slightly different to your regular cupcake batter (there are no yolks, but airy egg whites instead which give the cupcakes a wonderfully moist texture)and they are topped with a 3 minute chocolate ganache. I’ve also taken a liking to using silicone cupcake wrappers instead of the paper ones. Not only are they more environmentally friendly for all of us cupcake lovers who go through many, many cupcake wrappers in the year, but they are also easy to clean, don’t stick and come in plenty of different colors. Another thing: mini cupcakes are the way to go! If you’re planning on trying a lot of different cupcakes for the summer, making them smaller might just let you try that many more!
Mini Vanilla and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
Recipe (for about 60 mini cupcakes), adapted from Martha Stewart
3 1/4 cups + 1 tablespoon of cake flour (not self-rising)
4 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons of milk
1/2 cup + 6 tablespoons ( 1 3/4 sticks) of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 3/4 cups of sugar
5 large egg whites at room temperature
2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the vanilla extract and milk.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar in a steady stream and beat until pale and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 batches alternating with 2 additions of the milk mixture. Beat until just combined.
In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks (do not overmix). Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the butter batter to loosen it. Add the rest of the egg whites in 2 batches, gently folding them in. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Place your cupcakes wrappers in the muffin pan. Fill each cup 3/4 of the way up. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake come out just clean (bake 22 minutes for normal-sized cupcakes). Leave to cool on a cooling rack before icing.
Chocolate Ganache
6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate
2/3 cup of heavy cream
Finely chop the chocolate and place it in heat proof bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil. As soon as the cream starts to boil, remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate mixture is homogeneous. Dip each cupcake into the chocolate mixture. Enjoy!
Enjoy the read!
Coco Bean
June 5, 2009 at 5:15 pm (16 years ago)I know, I haven’t come across any great cupcake shops here, but I did hear that a new one went in near the Atwater Market and am hoping to check it out tomorrow.
Those cupcakes look amazing, I love when they are made with egg whites! Are they from the new cupcake book?
nicole
June 5, 2009 at 5:39 pm (16 years ago)Oh how cute! I love anything mini… or anything with ganache 🙂
Chocolate Shavings
June 5, 2009 at 7:06 pm (16 years ago)I’ve been to the one near Atwater – it’s pretty good, but not the kind of place I can afford to go all the time!
Carolyn Jung
June 5, 2009 at 8:37 pm (16 years ago)That’s a great eco idea to use the silicone cupcake holders like that. Plus, they’re so pretty and colorful, too.
Jackie @PhamFatale.com
June 6, 2009 at 12:52 am (16 years ago)I love how shiny and smooth your chocolate ganache looks. It looks perfect
My Carolina Kitchen
June 6, 2009 at 11:42 am (16 years ago)Very classy cupcakes. I love the ganache.
Thanks for stopping by my kitchen. It gave me a chance to discover your beautiful blog.
Cheers, Sam
Mary
June 7, 2009 at 9:54 am (16 years ago)these cupcakes are so inviting!
creampuff
June 7, 2009 at 11:55 am (16 years ago)Grat minds … Jen … I just made vanilla cupcakes too! These are just adorable and I agree, the appeal of a cupcake is universal. Toronto, while it does have a few cupcake shops, is sadly lacking. Furthermore, said cupcake shops pale in comparison to the ones in NYC in my opinion.
Coco Bean
June 7, 2009 at 12:24 pm (16 years ago)So I went to the cupcake shop yesterday and we weren’t that impressed. Sigh, I guess I will have to keep making them.
Elissa
June 7, 2009 at 3:50 pm (16 years ago)Goodness those cupcakes are just adorable! I’d love to get my hands on those cute silicone cupcake liners…
allen@foodcreate.com
June 7, 2009 at 4:25 pm (16 years ago)I love the batter and the way no egg yolks are used. Egg whites do give the cupcake a moist texture. Thank you for your post!
MaryBeth
June 7, 2009 at 8:32 pm (16 years ago)YUM-O, these are so tantalizing….
CookiePie
June 7, 2009 at 10:27 pm (16 years ago)Soooo adorable, and they sound delicious!
Junglefrog
June 8, 2009 at 2:36 am (16 years ago)I love cupcakes! They somehow make me feel better then when eating a bigger sized cake..:) This is a very great looking combination!
Chocolate Shavings
June 8, 2009 at 9:31 am (16 years ago)Coco Bean: I like their chocolate cupcakes with caramel filling, but I’m still looking for the perfect cupcake store in the city.
creampuff: would you recommend any place in toronto? Your cupcakes look gorgeous!
Elissa: I’ve seen the liners at many different kitchen store here in Montreal. I hope you find some!
stephchows
June 8, 2009 at 3:17 pm (16 years ago)Hmmm I really like that these use just egg whites and not the yolks. OK it’s bookmarked for later use 😀
Deborah
June 8, 2009 at 11:27 pm (16 years ago)I like that – I can make more cupcakes if I make them mini! These look fabulous!
Jamie
June 16, 2009 at 1:10 am (16 years ago)Perfect! I was just wondering what to do with those egg whites in my fridge and this is it! Really great little cupcakes. My persnickety son will even love these.
I love those little cupcake cups.
Stacy
June 23, 2009 at 1:35 pm (16 years ago)Thanks for this wonderful recipe! They look delicious and the perfect size for the kids!
PS.) Are those silicone mini liners? I wonder where one would get them in S. California? I also have to ask, I have heard some negativity about silicone bake ware (which sadly has prevented me from giving them a try), how are the cupcake liners to work with?
Chocolate Shavings
June 24, 2009 at 7:58 am (16 years ago)Stacy: I don’t like using silicone loaf pans (once you put the batter inside, the mold looses its shape because the silicone is so flexible). For cupcakes liners however, I think they workd really nicely. You pop the liners directly in your cupcake molds, scoop in the batter – and it does the trick! Easy cleanup, they are re-usable and add a nice dash of color.
I found them in a cooking store in Montreal, and I’ve seen them at various places since. I can’t imagine they would be too hard to find, cupcakes are as trendy as can be these days!
Stacy
June 24, 2009 at 2:37 pm (16 years ago)Thank you for your response. I will be putting those on my list of things to purchase this weekend!!
dessert girl
June 27, 2009 at 6:34 pm (16 years ago)I love the mini cupcake! It’s the perfect size!
faraway
September 29, 2009 at 10:06 pm (15 years ago)my goodness do these cupcakes ever look good! I’m a baker myself and have never had my little treats have such an appealing appearance! Keep up the amazing recipes 🙂