Once again this year, the Super Bowl fell on my birthday. To celebrate, I wanted to make Buffalo wings in the "old school" way - i.e. deep fried and no exotic sauces, although I did doctor up mine by adding a little Dave's Insanity Hot sauce to the traditional Frank's Red Hot - I like my food spicy. these came out great but I doubt I'd make them again because of the hassle involved. To make enough wings for a crowd, the cook is chained to the stove for a long time. For dessert, I was craving the cupcake version of a Mounds Bar - a chocolate and coconut. I googled around and couldn't find any recipes that didn't involved Duncan Hines cake mix, so I decided to create my own.
I went back to my trusty Better Homes and Garden cookbook to dig out my usual "go to" recipe for chocolate cupcakes - good old devil's food. Then, a little online research showed that a coconut filling could simply be made sweetened condensed milk and coconut. I knew I wanted to top them with a bittersweet ganache and coconut. I suppose that fans of Almond Joy candy bars could top them instead with sliced almonds....after all, sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't....
Here's the recipes...
Ganache
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
24 ounces 60% cacao dark chocolate chips
Heat cream in the microwave for about a minute until it is boiling. Add the chocolate and let it sit for a couple minutes. Gently stir the mixture until it is homogeneous and the chips are melted. Refrigerate for several hours, stirring occasionally, until quite thick.
Cupcakes
2 c all purpose flour
2 c sugar
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c shortening
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix dry ingredients. Add milk, shortening and vanilla and mix until combined, then beat on high for 2 minutes. Add eggs and beat 2 minutes more.
Filling
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
7-ounce package sweetened coconut
Mix together until combined.
To make the cupcakes, line a cupcake tin with paper liners, and fill halfway with cake batter. Using a small ice cream scoop, add about a tablespoon or so of filling and top with some additional filling. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool. Spread ganache on top of each cupcake and sprinkle with coconut flakes, or sliced almonds.
Makes about 18 cupcakes.
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