We had our April Iron Cupcake event last night, and the ingredient was Chocolate. Yum, who does not want to eat 10-20 chocolate cupcakes, right? The RSVP list filled up almost immediately after it was posted, and there were 200 people on the waiting list!
I wanted to bake for this one (even though I am not eligible to win, since I am one of the organizers), and I had this great idea to make a Black Forest Cake cupcake. I followed Martha Stewart's recipe for Brownie Cupcakes, and to my dismay, they turned out nothing like the picture! Instead of being dark brown, they turned out kind of mocha colored, and not all that chocolatey. And really tasting of salt. I tested one with a smidge of tart cherry jam on it (my idea was to fill them with tart cherry jam, top with another brownie piece, and then top the whole thing with whipped cream frosting and a cherry), and the jam totally overpowered the taste of the cake. ARGH.
I made some cream cheese frosting instead, and again, when I frosted one test cupcake, the chocolate flavor was totally lost. Curses! So I decided to make the frosting chocolate as well, adding in cocoa powder until it tasted sufficiently like chocolate. And in fact, I liked it a lot.
I frosted one test cupcake, and topped it with some dark chocolate curls I had bought a few weeks ago at Sugar & Spice. And what do you know, it was pretty good! The salt crystals in the brownies now added an interesting dimension to the taste, so I christened them "Salted Milk Chocolate" cupcakes and off I went. I kind of wanted to call them "Black Forest Cake Fail", but I didn't think anyone would get it.
They did very well against the other entries - surprising, since I had been ready to throw them away. By count, I got either 3rd or 4th place out of 15 - not bad, especially given that these were some of the best cupcakes that I have had in the 8 months that I have been doing Iron Cupcake.
I have no idea if I can duplicate them again, but I think that even if the brownie recipe turns out right, they would be delicious. Here is my recipe for the frosting:
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 t. vanilla
- 1 16 oz. box powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 C. or so cocoa powder, sifted into powdered sugar
Add the vanilla and stir until incorporated.
Add the powdered sugar/cocoa mixture 1/2 C. at a time. Turn mixer to high for 30 seconds following each addition. Scrape down the sides as necessary.
Add more cocoa if necessary.
Frost cooled cupakes, topping with chocolate curls or mini chocolate chips.
