10 Ways to Improve Upon Your Cupcake with Chocolate!

One of the most basic rules that any woman learns in life (ok, I shouldn’t exclude men in this so I apologize) is that Chocolate makes anything and everything better. as an avid cupcake lover and baker, my enthusiasm is at an all time high when chocolate is involved and I do not, let me say that again, I do not discriminate against chocolate. ;)

I'm sure that I could create a list of things to do with chocolate that would go on and on for pages but I am going to simplify (for once) my list with the easiest ways to improve upon ones cupcake bliss with chocolate.

1. The simplest of ideas is the basic chocolate cupcake. What can be more perfect then a delicious moist Devils food cupcake. Forget about plain old vanilla! It doesn’t matter if it is from a box or from scratch because there is always a reason for chocolate cupcakes.

2. German sweet chocolate mixed with heavy whipping cream. Yum! That is right, it is Ganache! I think we will count this one as number’s 3 and 4 as well. Simply because there is so much you can do with the two most beautiful combining things in this world. It is like an angel kissed another angel and created chocolate heaven (forgive me, I’m getting carried away but my mouth is watering and I just can not help these horrible analogies. Lol)

3. Everyone knows (well, if you don’t, you do now) that when you combine Heavy Cream (brought to boil) with chopped chocolate, you can add veg. oil to make it silky smooth for the tops of your cupcakes but change the combination of the two slightly and you then have a t tasty truffle frosting. Less cream I say, MORE chocolate!

4. Now Use this same Gently boiled heavy cream with 9 oz of delicious German chocolate and place in the cool refrigerator for an hour, scrape this thick wonderfully fragrant chocolate into the mixer and beat it on medium to high speed and watch it turn into a light and fluffy chocolate mousse. Use it to cover your cupcakes, fill your cupcakes or simply eat it with a spoon. Either way it is delicious. No other word for it!

5. Let me get back to another basic, Chocolate frosting. There are so many ways you can make chocolate frosting but I think what really makes it a special chocolate frosting is when you use the most delectable cocoa powder. There are so many to choose from but one of my favorites is Ghirardelli milk chocolate cocoa powder. (You can also purchase this sweet, unsweetened, dark, white mocha, etc.)

6. Kiss it! When baking your chocolate cupcakes, pour the batter into the liners and simply push a Hershey kiss into the center of the cupcake batter. It sounds so easy but it is such a surprisingly pleasant mix of chocolate flavors when you bite into your chocolatey, gooey cupcake.

7. Once again my love of heavy whipping cream comes into play, only this time I will not be boiling but simply combining 1 cup of cream in my mixer with a half a cup of confectioners sugar and a half cup of cocoa powder. I think Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa is perfect for this cool topping but once again there are a number of different and tasty cocoa powders that you can use.

8. Go out and splurge on the finest chocolate or cocoa bar you can find. German, Italian, Swedish, French, Belgium….or Madécasse Chocolate from Madagascar (I highly recommend & it is environmentally friendly chocolate, which is a big plus). Then shave some of the chocolate off, sprinkle on the tops of you cupcakes when they just come out of the oven, Use it as a garnish on top of the frosting and it makes the entire chocolate cupcake taste like you purchased it at one of those expensive shops in a big city. If you don’t use the entire bar of chocolate right away, it is good for several batches as a delicious elegant flavor garnish. Absolutely wonderful.

9. Godiva Chocolate liqueur. Doesn’t the sound of that make you want to eat a cupcake with that ingredient, right now! When making your next batch of chocolate cupcakes substitute 1/ 3 of the water with 1/ 3 Godiva chocolate liqueur. Should I even have to say more.

10. My final, not that these were in any way in some kind of order but my final one is white chocolate. With all of this talk of chocolate we can not forget the beloved white chocolate lover. For you I suggest this. Purchase yourself a white chocolate Ghirardelli baking bar. Melt it, till it is smooth and after you fill up your cupcake liners with chocolate cupcake batter, swirl the melted white chocolate into the batter (carefully). Once they are in the oven make your favorite buttercream frosting and simply add it to your mix. The combination of the milk and white chocolate is simply mouth watering. You will thank me later. ;)

Now that I have hopefully made everyone drool a little bit. Click on the link to my picture and visit my page. ;) lol Thanks!