Cupcake Party!

When I see cupcakes, I instantly think "party time"! There's something about the swirly icing, colorful decorations, and pretty liners that make any occasion more festive. To celebrate back-to-school season, you can whip these up to the delight of your family and friends (and new teachers?).

This time, I chose to make vanilla cupcakes because I ALWAYS seem to default to chocolate. Of course, my icing is as fudgey as always - and it's a simple ganache made with semi-sweet chocolate and heavy cream. Feel free to substitute store-bought icing if you want, but I encourage you to try my ganache at some point. It's so easy and there's nothing artificial about it. Same with the cupcakes, you can certainly use a cake mix, but my batter is simple and made with 100% real ingredients.

Have fun!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

For the cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the ganache:
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels or finely chopped chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Colorful decorations

To make the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add half of the flour mixture and then the milk and vanilla, mixing well after each addition. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until just blended (no need to over mix).
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out almost clean (little bits of cupcake clinging to the pick is ideal).
Cool the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool completely before icing.
To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a medium, heat-proof bowl.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until it just starts to boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 10 minutes, without stirring (stirring cools the ganache too quickly and can make it grainy).
Gently stir the ganache until the mixture is smooth and glossy, scraping and incorporating the chocolate from the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Cool until firm, about 45 minutes (you can speed up the process by refrigerating).
Transfer the ganache to a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until paler and fluffy, about 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag and pipe over cooled cupcakes. Top with decorations if desired.

Makes 12 cupcakes