Moar cupcakes, part troix

Or something like that.

There's an experimental batch of The Bitchin' Kitchin' Blue Moon Cupcakes in the oven right now. I saw these pinned on Pintrest and then this happened:

I'm writing this as I'm waiting for them to get out of the oven. The only change I did on these to compensate for the altitude was bake for 15 minutes at 365F instead of 18 minutes at 350F. So far they seem to turning out just fine, so take notes, chocolate things!

I've been asked for the recipe to my Deconstructed Red Velvet Cupcakes, which is trickier to post than it sounds. See, I sort of made things up as I went along, but I said I'd try. Results may vary.

I swiped the basic cupcake recipe from Baked Perfection

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 - 3 Tablespoon(s) red food coloring (depending on how bright you want them)

• Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

• Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute in between each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with the milk and red dye in 3 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating until just incorporated.

• Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes, or until the cakes a pick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes then remove cupcakes from muffin tin and let cool on a wire rack. 

Cream Cheese Frosting
recipe from Martha Stewart

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth.

Here's where I started to improvise. See, most Red Velvet cakes have cocoa powder to them, making them essentially chocolate cake in disguise. As you might have notice, there is no chocolate to be mentioned in either of the above recipes. 

And we just can't let that happen!

So, to the frosting, I added a couple tablespoons of ChocoVine Espresso Chocolate Wine (between 2-4 depending on what frosting consistency you're shooting for)  and somewhere around a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder.

I also whipped up a chocolate-wine-infused ganache.

• Bring 1 cup of heavy cream to a simmer and pour it over 8 oz of finely chopped chocolate chips, using a heatproof bowl (something that will retain heat; I love using my grandmother's Corning bowl for this). I also prefer using dark chocolate whenever possible and this was no exception. I love the Ghiardelli baking chips!
  
• Let this sit undisturbed for one minute and then stir from the middle outwards to combine. Add in a couple Tbsp. of the chocolate wine again and mix well. 

Using an apple corer if you have one, or a sharp knife if you don't, cut out a small hole in the cupcakes, about 3/4 of the way down and pipe the cooled ganache into it. You want the consistency to be something like warm chocolate pudding, so it doesn't just run right out of your piping bag/ziploc bag with the corner snipped off. Don't overflow the holes.

Frost as you want. I used an open star tip and the traditional frosting swirl. You could sprinkle some additional cocoa powder on top for a finish, or just leave as is.

So, there you have it. Tell me how these turn out for you! I'll post pictures when I make another batch.