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zesty_pintoToday's the day I pushed baking again. I originally tried to make a set of Black Forest cupcakes back in late October, but I mixed up on the recipe. I used coconut and chocolate frosting when traditional black forest uses dark chocolate and white chocolate covering. My brother had a spare block of dark chocolate back when I was home for my birthday and offered it to me for my future baking experiments.
I used some of the chocolate back in late November when I was alone during Thanksgiving and tried to make cake balls. As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thechaton can vouch, they were a mixed success. They would be even more of a success if I packed them properly. I also blame it on being cheap and buying angel food cake mix instead of yellow, which has a different consistency to it that just didn't work as well for me. Regardless, it left me with almost half a pound block of dark chocolate to screw with. Still, I learned a LOT more on how to mess with chocolate as a baking medium.
So, melted the dark chocolate in a microwave with a cup of milk. One minute in the oven and then some constant mixing leads to a smooth rich creaminess with a good consistency.
I tried several different methods to put cherry filling in. The problem is that cupcake mix has a much lower density compared to the filling, so I ended up trying different ways to put it in. This one I put it in before it was baked.
Another batch had filling put in while in midbake as it was starting to rise, then another right when the cupcake was starting to dry out and then layered with mix again, and finally another set that was put in right after it came out of the oven. Results are mixed.
Before all this, I also had a supply of Ghirardelli white chocolate blocks that have been gathering dust for awhile. Time was kind to the chocolate, so I brought it over to use. I shaved a small block and got a nice bowl of white chocolate shavings to sprinkle on before putting it into the freezer to settle.
Add some icing in a bag and a maraschino cherry to top it with, and it's good!
One of the kids tried it and thought it was really good, and my mom liked it as well: thought the dark chocolate being so pure actually accentuated the flavor a lot since it wasn't made too sweet. Only problem was I also had a ton of spare white chocolate shavings and some melted chocolate left, so I mixed it up and made a turtle out of it. Not very good looking, but pretty damn tasty. Okay, I used *some* of the dark chocolate, the rest I refroze and will save with the rest of my dark chocolate block.
Next time I do this, I'm probably going to use blueberry filling and yellow cake: got some frozen blueberries in storage. Not sure what to use for icing though. I'm tempted to think maybe a crunchy pop rocks-like mixture? That wouldn't store well, though.
Anyway, tomorrow I'll be shipping off half a dozen to some friends, and next week another dozen and some change will go home with me. Unlike last time, instead of 24 I made 30 cupcakes, so we'll see how it goes. I'll probably give one to my driving instructor tomorrow as well.
I used some of the chocolate back in late November when I was alone during Thanksgiving and tried to make cake balls. As
thechaton can vouch, they were a mixed success. They would be even more of a success if I packed them properly. I also blame it on being cheap and buying angel food cake mix instead of yellow, which has a different consistency to it that just didn't work as well for me. Regardless, it left me with almost half a pound block of dark chocolate to screw with. Still, I learned a LOT more on how to mess with chocolate as a baking medium. So, melted the dark chocolate in a microwave with a cup of milk. One minute in the oven and then some constant mixing leads to a smooth rich creaminess with a good consistency.
I tried several different methods to put cherry filling in. The problem is that cupcake mix has a much lower density compared to the filling, so I ended up trying different ways to put it in. This one I put it in before it was baked.
Another batch had filling put in while in midbake as it was starting to rise, then another right when the cupcake was starting to dry out and then layered with mix again, and finally another set that was put in right after it came out of the oven. Results are mixed.
Before all this, I also had a supply of Ghirardelli white chocolate blocks that have been gathering dust for awhile. Time was kind to the chocolate, so I brought it over to use. I shaved a small block and got a nice bowl of white chocolate shavings to sprinkle on before putting it into the freezer to settle.
Add some icing in a bag and a maraschino cherry to top it with, and it's good!
One of the kids tried it and thought it was really good, and my mom liked it as well: thought the dark chocolate being so pure actually accentuated the flavor a lot since it wasn't made too sweet. Only problem was I also had a ton of spare white chocolate shavings and some melted chocolate left, so I mixed it up and made a turtle out of it. Not very good looking, but pretty damn tasty. Okay, I used *some* of the dark chocolate, the rest I refroze and will save with the rest of my dark chocolate block.
Next time I do this, I'm probably going to use blueberry filling and yellow cake: got some frozen blueberries in storage. Not sure what to use for icing though. I'm tempted to think maybe a crunchy pop rocks-like mixture? That wouldn't store well, though.
Anyway, tomorrow I'll be shipping off half a dozen to some friends, and next week another dozen and some change will go home with me. Unlike last time, instead of 24 I made 30 cupcakes, so we'll see how it goes. I'll probably give one to my driving instructor tomorrow as well.
