blackberry jam-packed dark chocolate cupcakes with whipped white and milk chocolate ganache frosting

makes nine cupcakes

i rarely make cupcakes. they’re easy to overbake, underfill, overfrost, you get the idea. i also try to avoid the title of ‘cupcake girl.’

 

all of that being said, you should DEFINITELY make these. the rich darkness of the cake finds a divine pair in the tangy blackberry preserves. the white chocolate ganache gives the milk chocolate cream cheese frosting an extra layer of flavor, almost reminiscent of malt.

 

these would go well with a glass of red wine or an egg cream.

cake (adapted from Alexandra Cooks) (these make a really small batch – 9 cupcakes – so the measurements are kind of weird, but feel free to double or quadruple the recipe):

• .75 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp hot coffee
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

filling:

• 1/2 cup blackberry preserves

frosting:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted
• 3 tbsp blackberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 300º F (300!!! Not 350!!). Line a cupcake pan with nine or ten cupcake liners. Mix the chocolate with the hot coffee and set aside (don’t stir). Whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and powder, and salt. In a stand mixer, beat egg until thick and lemon colored. Add the oils, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir the chocolate-coffee mixture and add it to the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat for twenty seconds. Pour evenly into the pan, filling them a little more than 3/4 of the way. Bake for about 25 minutes– keep an eye out and check  with toothpicks until they come out clean with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool for five minutes in the pan, then move onto racks and let cool for at least an hour.

For the frosting, put the chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan until you see small bubbles appear around the edges of the pan (not quite boiling). Pour the cream over the chocolate chips, let sit for a few minutes, then whisk until smooth. Put into the refrigerator to thicken. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder until smooth. Add in the melted chocolate. Beat in the cooled and thickened ganache. Fold in the blackberry preserves.

To assemble, use a sharp knife to cut a hold in the top of each of the cupcakes. Fill with a few teaspoons of jam. Pipe the frosting on top (I used an open star tip). Sprinkle with edible stars, if desired.