Chocolate Heaven in a cupcake

I realize it's not exactly a novelty for me to be here, ranting and raving about chocolate cake.  I mean, it was just a few months ago when I was swooning over those amazing ultimate chocolate cupcakes.  I can only assure you that I'm always sincere!

While I do like to "play the field" when it comes to chocolate cakes/cupcakes (and chocolate desserts in general), I have a lot of room in my heart to love a lot of recipes!  This gets proven again and again as I eat and discover all the wonderful chocolate cake renditions out there.  It's all about diversity and mixing things up.

So today, let me add another chocolate cupcake love affair to my list.  In a roundabout way, these cupcakes come by way of Savannah, Georgia.  You see...my family and I went to Charleston, S.C., recently on vacation.  During that trip, we drove to Savannah one day.  Aside from wanting to see the lovely city, I really wanted to visit Back in the Day Bakery.  I am so happy we made the pilgrimage (particularly as I learned that they would be closed the following week for summer vacation)!  The place was as charming as I expected and the people might well have been sweeter than the treats.

While we were there, we tasted these mind-blowing Chocolate Heaven cupcakes.  We tried one and went right back for another!  They were amazingly moist, with a super fluffy, tender crumb.  The cupcakes packed some wonderful chocolate flavor and somehow the cap of chocolate sprinkles on top of the creamy frosting was just right. I fell hard for these chocolate cupcakes.

The amazing Chocolate Heaven cupcake at Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia

We didn't make it to the bakery that day until early afternoon.  By then, and given the fact that August is a slow month for Savannah, there wasn't a ton to choose from and I can only say that I'm so grateful there were still some of these chocolate cupcakes in the case!  Chocolate Heaven, indeed!  I wish we'd had time and space to try more of their treats but we'd just eaten lunch in Hilton Head, had plans to visit Leopold's next for ice cream, and had dinner reservations.  To say that I'd want to go back to Savannah just to have more food from Back in the Day Bakery is not an exaggeration. Hopefully, someday...

In the meantime, you know what I love to do...try to recreate something wonderful I ate on vacation, back home!  Since one of the lovely women working at the bakery told me these cupcakes were a relatively new addition, I didn't have high hopes of finding the recipe...until I looked and realized there is a Chocolate Heaven cake recipe in the first cookbook!!  Bingo!  I realized this would take me pretty close to what we enjoyed in Savannah so I took the cake recipe, reduced it down from a 3-layer cake, and turned out some cupcakes!

So how did my homemade version compare to the ones at the bakery?  The good news is they taste very much alike.  I realized that to make a good old-fashioned bake, it takes good-quality ingredients, time and love in the way of patience in the process.  Here specifically, I also think sour cream is one of the "secrets" as well as really good chocolate in the form of Scharffen Berger, and coffee.  

Not surprisingly, the ones at the bakery were superior.  While the home version were moist, the bakery cupcake was fluffier, with more of an open crumb.  My cupcakes baked up with slightly rounded tops while the bakery's were flat, making a great base for an even and generous layer of frosting.  I skimped in comparison when it came to frosting on my cupcakes but for all that, these cupcakes still transport you to heaven for a few moments while you're devouring them.  I would surely love to eat them again and again!

Don't skip the chocolate sprinkles on top of these cupcakes because for some reason, they are just so right here!  They somehow reinforce the whole chocolate experience. 

Pinata cupcakes

This past weekend was a very eventful one.  My son turned 11!!  It's incredible how quickly each year flies by, and equally shocking to see the little guy growing by leaps and bounds before our very eyes yet seemingly overnight.

We were lucky to enjoy a gorgeous weekend - sunshine, low-humidity in the high 80's, with a light breeze - the perfect backdrop for a little birthday barbecue we had for the birthday boy on Saturday.  

Dad was on the grill and the kids were busy working up an appetite playing and just being kids.  This year, I bought a classic ice cream cake for our birthday boy but I made him some fun cupcakes.

They're chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting...but there's a little surprise inside. They're stuffed with some celebratory goodies...in the form of sprinkles, miniature m&m's, and other colorful candies!

They're pinata cupcakes!  Slice them open and let the colorful treats spill out!  They are such fun!  When I first saw them a couple of months ago on the Food Network show, The Kitchen, I knew I wanted to make them as a little surprise for my son's upcoming birthday and that's what I did for him and the other kids at the party.

The little guy thought they were just regular cupcakes but I gave each child a plastic knife and asked them to slice their little cakes open for a surprise.  And seriously, the best reward for this small effort of mine was the smile that came to the birthday boy's face and the look of surprise, and happiness.  It was such a great feeling and a wonderful moment.

My birthday boy loved the pinata cupcakes and said they were the best thing at the party.  I think he was just saying that to be nice but it was lovely how appreciative he was.  And I know he did enjoy them because I turned around to slice his ice cream cake and when I looked down again at his plate, his cupcake - including the pinata filling - was all gone.  He ate it all! Somehow, I had envisioned the candy and sprinkle filling as more of a decorative element as opposed to for eating.

These were such fun and easy to do.  I'm really glad I made them and thankful for another year of happy birthday memories.

Peanut butter-filled chocolate cupcakes

I know we're all enjoying color right now and craving fresh berries and fruit.  That's true for me as well but that said, chocolate and peanut butter are always in season. They are staples that get me through the year, no matter the weather.

I was browsing through my copy of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes the other day.  How often do you look over your collection of cookbooks?  Sometimes I'll take a look at some of mine and it's amazing by how many good-looking recipes are in there - recipes I'll likely never get to because there's just so much out there and so little time!

Well...when I was looking through the cupcake book, I spotted a recipe for peanut butter-filled chocolate cupcakes and I wondered how I'd missed it and hadn't tagged it in some way.  It's a very easy stir-together kind of recipe and I had everything on hand so I made half batch for no reason other than to celebrate the combination of chocolate and peanut butter.

You don't need frosting for these cupcakes.  There's a good tablespoon of peanut butter filling in the center, with a brownie-like cake surrounding it.  Layering the brownie-cake batter with the peanut butter filling and giving the batter a little swirl on top makes the marble pattern that lets everyone know what to expect when they take a bite.

I really like eating these cupcakes warm so I pop them in the microwave for 10-12 seconds before eating.  That way, the filling is warm and there's just a greater intensity of flavor.  

I'm glad I revisited one of my cookbooks and it resulted in these little treats.  The classic flavor works for me and I'd almost make them just for the aroma-therapy alone.  The smell of melted chocolate and peanut butter in the air is a heady thing.

Valentine's day cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day! 

And a special Happy Valentine's Day shout-out to my husband! 

I hope you have a lovely day filled with love and chocolate!

I thought I'd say hello with a few heart-themed cupcakes today.  The last time I made those football cupcakes, I whipped a few extra with the Valentine's Day theme. 

These little hearts and X's and O's are made of white chocolate, the pink ones tinted with a teeny bit of food coloring.  Pipe them out onto parchment paper and peel off once dried and set to decorate your cupcakes.

It begins with chocolate...

I realize I am by no means alone when I say I love chocolate.  But I do love chocolate and I want to make that statement right up front because there will be a lot of posts involving chocolate.  I have a picture of myself at around five years-old holding a bar of Toblerone at the airport and to this day, it's still one of my favorites but I've since added lots of other chocolate treats to that list.  And not only do I love chocolate but my husband and son do too and that means many chocolate baked treats come out of our oven. 

Today I had the urge to make some chocolate cupcakes.  Everyone loves an individual chocolate cake - they're cute, they're portable, they're all yours.  And to pair off the very chocolaty cupcakes, I used an equally chocolaty ganache frosting.  I'm going all out here. 

Just put it on a plate and I'm ready to eat...