Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Filling

 

For National Chocolate Cupcake Day, we decided to make some special chocolate cupcakes. 

Ingredients: 

1 box of chocolate cake mix plus the eggs, oil, and water to make the cupcakes

Cream filling: 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Ganache

1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup heavy cream

I started by making a batch of box chocolate cupcakes. Take them out of the pan and let them cool on a wire rack. 

Meanwhile, make the filling. 

In a metal bowl, mix the sugar, egg whites, water, cream of tarter, and salt. Place the bowl on top of a small saucepan that has a small layer of boiling water. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl with the sugar mixture. Using a hand mixer, beat the sugar mixture for about 7 minutes. The water should continue simmering while you are mixing the sugar mixture. When the mixture gets glossy, pull it off the heat and add the vanilla. Beat for about 2 more minutes. 

Core out the center of the cupcakes. I put the cream filling in a Ziploc bag and cut the tip off the bag. Squeeze the filling into the centers of the cupcake. Top with the tips of the cored pieces of the centers. 

To make the ganache, I just put the chocolate chips and cream in a bowl and heated it in the microwave for 30 second intervals until it was melted. Dip the cupcakes into the ganache. Then use the remaining cream filling to put swirls on top.