These Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache are a great, decadent cupcake recipe.
If you’re looking for a chocolate dessert that is really special, these chocolate ganache cupcakes just might do the trick. They are the best chocolatey cupcakes with the most amazing rich and delicious chocolate frosting added to the top. The pictures tell the complete story. They appear as something you’ve purchased in a good bakery, but they are completely homemade.
Key ingredients for good Chocolate Cupcakes:
You’ll need all purpose flour for this recipe. Don’t try to substitute any other flour in this recipe. You’ll also need hot water, but I give the option of using hot brewed coffee instead. Coffee will help intensify the flavor of the chocolate, so I highly recommend you use the coffee option! The addition of applesauce helps keep these cupcakes moist. And buttermilk is another must-have ingredient. NOTE: you can see from the photos how much I like to fill the cupcake wrappers in the cupcake pan. These cupcakes will rise to the top of the wrapper while baking, but they won’t puff up super high like a breakfast muffin does.
How to make your own buttermilk:
If you don’t have any buttermilk at home, don’t worry… it’s easy to make your own buttermilk! Just add 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice to 1 cup of regular milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. The milk will begin to curdle and become acidic. Then it’s buttermilk! If you don’t have any lemon at home, you can also use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and that will do the trick too.
How to make Chocolate Ganache:
You will heat cream and sugar in a bowl. I like to do this in a glass bowl, and I put it in the microwave until piping hot. Then you’ll drop in the chopped chocolate and let it sit for about one minute. Finally, you’ll take a whisk and whisk it all together until nice and smooth. A little bit of butter is added in at the end to smooth it all out.
Adding chocolate ganache to the cupcakes:
The warm chocolate ganache frosting is perfect for dipping. Just turn your baked cupcakes upside down and give them a quick dip into the ganache. You can leave them looking like this… or you can add some decoration on top.
How to add decorative piping on top:
Once the ganache has had a chance to cool a bit, it will thicken up. Add it to a piping bag fitted with a star tip, and you can press out decorative touches onto the top of each cupcake. This is completely optional, but I love the way it looks.
Keep these pretty Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes refrigerated until you are ready to serve and eat them. If you want to soften them up before serving, just take them out of the refrigerator about one half hour before doing so. Enjoy!
Here are a few more chocolate cupcake recipes you might like to try:
- Dairy Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Icing
- Easy Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
- Baileys Chocolate Cupcakes
- Sugar Free Chocolate Cupcakes
- Chocolate Wedding Cupcakes
Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
Ingredients
CUPCAKES:
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 cup very hot water or hot brewed coffee
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups granulated white sugar
- 6 ounces butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup buttermilk
CHOCOLATE GANACHE:
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 8 ounces bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate (or a combo of both), chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
Instructions
PREPARE THE CUPCAKES:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pans with liners.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the hot water or coffee and cocoa; set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the sugar, butter, salt and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue creaming until light and fluffy. Mix in the applesauce.
- Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk alternately to the wet ingredients. Then add the hot water mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop the batter into cupcake pans and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool completely before adding ganache.
MAKE THE GANACHE:
- In a medium glass bowl (or small saucepan), bring cream and sugar just to a boil (in the microwave or on the stove). Then remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let it sit for about 1 minute, then whisk together until smooth. Then stir in the butter until melted.
- Dip the tops of the cupcakes into the warm ganache. Set on a cooling rack to dry. When the remaining ganache sits for a while (or refrigerate for a few minutes), it will get thicker. At this point, you can spoon it into a piping bag and then pipe more ganache on top for decoration.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I needed a recipe for cupcakes for my daughter’s wedding. I just found this made them and what a tasty cupcake. I chose to use coffee instead of the water. Happy Baking!
Your recipe calls for 6 oz. of butter (3/4 stick). Each stick is 4 oz. Should that read 3/4 C . or 3 oz, which would be 3/4 of a stick.
It’s 6 ounces of butter. Sorry that was confusing!