Chocolate, and Chocolate, and Bananas, Oh My!

I've just given myself a big ol' pat on the back. I don't mind if I do. I've created a heavenly ooey-gooey good mess. A Triple Chocolate Banana Surprise.

The triple chocolate starts with a extremely moist dark chocolate Devil's Food cake. The cupckae is then frosted with a chocolate whipped cream frosting and topped with a delectable (yet delicate), chocolate ganache.

The chocolates work together to make magic in your mouth. The dark chocolate of the cake is rich, while the chocolate whipped frosting has just the right amount of sweetness and is thick like pudding. The chocolate ganache acts as the perfect semi-sweet companion that blends all the flavors together. But, it is not the chocolate flavors alone that make this cupcake so enjoyable. When you bite into the cupcake's center, you are surprised with a flavorful banana custard. YUM!

My Triple Chocolate Banana Surprise cupcakes have made it to the list of my favs!

Until my next cupdate,

Linds

Wordless Wednesday: Death by Chocolate

Cupcake FAIL: Lemon Blueberry Chiffon

I found myself with a little extra time to bake this weekend. I've been having the MAD craving for a lemon cupcake, with some type of cream cheese frosting. While I was researching lemon cupcake recipes I came across a lemon chiffon and decided to I'd give it a try.

Yuck! What a FAIL.

The Lemon Chiffon Cupcake recipe was a lot of work! Although the recipe called for minimal in ingredients, it was a very slow stepped process that required added work separating and beating ingredients. Usually, I welcome the challenge of a difficult recipe because I'm so excited for the outcome--definitely not this time.

Because the recipe called for cake flour I expected a very even finish to my cupcakes. Cake flour never rises the same as all-purpose, but in the case of the cupcakes you see here, they barely rose at all! I always fill my liners about 2/3's full, allowing for the batter to rise at the top of the cupcake liner. When the cake just touches the top of your line, it allows for a good surface and enough space for frosting. From the above picture, you can see some rose to the top of the liner, while some pooped out halfway through the baking process. I can't frost that!


When I broke the cupcakes open, I was very excited at how the fresh blueberries infused into the cupcake. I was expecting a fresh, crisp, and lovely lemon taste. WRONG!!



When I took one bite into the cupcake I was so disappointed about how they tasted! All, I could taste was flour. There was no lemon, there was not sweetness, and they lacked any depth in texture. I felt like the cake just stuck to my tongue and the roof of my mouth--not really appealing when you're uber excited to nosh on a sweet treat.

I was so disappointed in the nasty taste of the cupcakes that I didn't bother wasting my perfectly good cream cheese to make frosting! Oh, well. Success in the kitchen doesn't come with out a lot of hard work and lessons learned from failure!

A lemon blueberry combo has such potential for cupcake greatness! It's back to the drawing board for me.

Until my next cupdate,
Linds