Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Chocoholics in training



For Brianna's first birthday cake, I tried to come up with something at least a little bit healthy.  I made carrot cake (this fabulous recipe) with cream cheese frosting.  She ate a little of it.  Then, a couple months later, I made chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for Jamie's birthday (his favorite).  Brianna devoured it.  And never looked back.  Every year now, she reminds me repeatedly that her favorite is "just chocolate."  As if I would forget.  =)  Now Brianna's birthday isn't until January.  But last year, she figured out that she could get her favorite more often--if it was Gillian's favorite, too.  Fortunately, Gillian has been quite happy (so far) to go along with that.  


While it's nice to know the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes ahead of time (for shopping purposes), I try not to bake ahead.  Part of my reason for joining TWD was to bake every week.  When this week's recipe of Chocolate-Chocolate Cupcakes was chosen by Clara of I♥food4thought, she suggested that we could decorate them for Halloween.  But a couple weeks ago, I was trying to figure out what we could do to celebrate Gillian's birthday in the middle of a crazy week.  And I realized that the cupcakes would be perfect!


The recipe was pretty easy to mix up, though it was a bit different from some of the other chocolate cake recipes I've made.  There's cocoa powder mixed in with the dry ingredients, and then you fold melted chocolate into the batter right at the end.  (I used Scharffen Berger cocoa and some of my new Ghirardelli chocolate pieces.)  I think I baked them for about 22 minutes.  (I forgot to write it down!)  The ganache glaze was easy to whisk up as well--more chocolate (El Rey 58% this time), a bit of powdered sugar, and some butter.  I had just enough time to spread it on the tops of the cupcakes before it set up.  I finished them off with some pink and white non-pareils (another favorite that Brianna's been sharing with Gillian).  


The verdict?  Dorie prefaces this recipe with "Sure, you could serve these to three-year-olds, but I think everyone would be happier if you waited until your audience was grown-up enough to appreciate the cupcakes' dark, close crumb, the very dark and not very sweet chocolate flavor and the elegance of the glaze..." She's never met my girls. =) They've never met a chocolate they didn't like.  (Gee, I wonder where they get that from...) Actually, they're cake snobs. They won't eat grocery-store-bakery chocolate cake, because it's not chocolatey enough. These cupcakes were right up their alley.  Jamie and I enjoyed them as well.  I liked the recipe as is, but might try adding a bit of instant espresso powder next time to bring out the chocolate flavor even more.  And if Brianna and Gillian have anything to say about it, we won't be waiting for the next birthday to make these again.  =)  If you want to try them for yourself, head on over to Clara's blog for the recipe.  And be sure to check out the rest of the TWD bakers--there are sure to be some great Halloween cupcakes!

29 comments:

  1. Yup. Your daughter looks quite happy with this so-called grown up cupcake! She has a very sophisticated palette! :) Great job!

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  2. Oh, I am so glad that your adorable little birthday girl loved these! They look just right for a little girl's birthday with the pink sprinkles. Your girls have good taste in dessert even at their tender ages!

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  3. How cute are those little things? Oh, and the cupcakes too, ha ha. My girls would have died for the pink sprinkles at those ages. One of them has pink mixing bowls and a pink kitchen timer now! And I bake every week, just not always in the same order (but I haven't gotten confused on posting dates yet!
    Good job.
    Nancy

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  4. You have some great little girls with some awesome taste! :)

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  5. 1) your daughter looks so cute!!

    2) love the presentation, they look beautiful! :)

    I loved mine too. I did what Dorie suggested and dipped the tops in the ganache. Only had one cupcake start to fall apart on me when I tried to dip it LOL There was JUST enough ganache for the total number of cupcakes. No waste, delish!

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  6. It's never to early to LOVE chocolate! Great job. Love the pink and white on top.

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  7. What a perfect pink sprinkled cupcake for your pretty little girl! She clearly enjoyed it!

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  8. Awww, I just love the pictures of your little girl and her birthday cupcakes, she is just adorable! What a sweet smile! I'm glad that these came at such a perfect time and that they were loved by all! I read Dorie's preface that these were not for the 3 year old crowd and worried a touch but all the kiddos loved them here as well. I think these cupcakes will make another appearance in our house during birthday season as well.

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  9. The pink sprinkles are perfect with the ganache. Happy Birthday to your daughter! Thanks for baking with me this week!
    Clara @ iheartfood4thought

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  10. Such a cute cute picture with the birthday cupcake! Your ganache is so nice and shiny. Mine was not! But it tasted great.

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  11. A perfect birthday cupcake!! They look great and your daughter looks very happy!

    -Amy
    www.singforyoursupperblog.com

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  12. Happy birthday to your gorgeous daughter! I love the pink sprinkles.. .and she looks VERY happy!

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  13. great job, they are perfect b-day cupcakes! :) i admire your girls, i was never a dark chocolate lover until recently!

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  14. What a cute story! I love the pink and white sprinkles, they go very nicely with the chocolate!

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  15. I love that last pic! Too cute. I think my sister tried to get me to decide chocolate was my favorite too growing up, but I never cooperated :P

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  16. My kids were glad as well that I didn't wait until they were driving to serve these to them. The silver liners are perfect for a festive birthday.

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  17. How cute! Chocoholics in training...That is so Alexis too!

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  18. I looooove the pink sprinkles! How perfect for a little girl's birthday.

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  19. cute photos! and i love those pink sprinkles!

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  20. Super looking sprinkles on your wonderful cupcakes! Your daughter is so cute and it looks like she is enjoying them!

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  21. Cute cupcakes and cute photos!! Great post :)

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  22. Such cute cupcakes! A sweet girl too!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  23. What a sweet girl, cupcakes are great birthday cakes

    Ulrike from Küchenlatein

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  24. Well, we know ONE person enjoyed the cupcakes. They look yummy!!

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  25. I love your title and I love the pink & white decos for a great contrast!

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  26. I think your cupcakes were a hit! Great job! They look delicious!

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  27. those are so cute w/the pink sprinkles! that's ok, i didn't do a halloween theme, either

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  28. That's pure joy on your daughter's face. Your cupcakes look great. Love the pink sprinkles.

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