After I made the Jeopardy cake I had leftover batter (since I didn't make the 3 round cakes) so I made mini cupcakes. They were awesome! I also had 3 chocolate chips to each cupcake after I had scooped the batter into the tins. This chocolate cake and frosting recipe has now become a staple in my book. I don't have a picture of the muffins, but will take one next time I make them and post it.
Cupcake Batter
Ingredients:
2 cups boiling water
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 ¼ cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare mini-muffin tins with paper. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over cocoa, and whisk until smooth. Let mixture cool. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at time, then stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cocoa mixture. Using a small ice cream scoop, pour batter about 3/4 the way up in the muffin tins. Put 3 chocolate chips in each cupcake before baking.
Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Frosting:
If you have leftover frosting simply put it in a container and freeze until you are ready to use again. It will stay good for a long time
2-1/2 cups heavy cream
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups granulated sugar
6 oz. (2 cups) natural unsweetened cocoa powder; more for decorating
1/2 cup Lyle’s Golden Syrup
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
To make the frosting:
In a 4-quart saucepan over low heat, combine the cream, butter, and vanilla bean and seeds and stir until the butter is melted. Remove the vanilla bean and whisk in the chopped chocolate until melted. Whisk in the sugar, cocoa powder, syrup, and salt until smooth—be sure the cocoa powder dissolves completely. Pour into a 9x13-inch pan and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
