Ultimate Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting and a Chocolate Giveaway

It's hard to believe this blog is just over a year old. For me, this blog began the day I got sick. It helped keep from going insane during my recovery. That's when all of this truly took off. That's when I met you and found out what wonderful and supportive people you really are. Thanks to all of you Fresh is still alive and kicking...and so am I.

To celebrate Fresh's birthday, I've made you a special treat. Chocolate cupcakes.

Let me be clear, these are not just any cupcakes, these are my Ultimate Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Frosting.

In order to make the cupcakes I figured that you should have the best ingredients. So we packed up the car, headed to Montreal, and I personally bought you this gift. Thank you for being incredible, loyal readers and such great friends.

The giveaway includes:

One 2.2 lb. (1 kg) bag of Cacao Barry Extra Dark Cocoa Powder

and

One 5.5 lb. (2.5 kg) bar of Cacao Barry Dark Chocolate Couverture

For those of you who love baking, you know about Cacao Barry and that couverture is the best. I also suspect the large quantity will be helpful when you're baking this holiday season or when you just want to curl up on the sofa with an ultimate chocolate cupcake.

Entering to win is easy.

- Leave a comment on this post before midnight on Friday November 5th.
- Make sure your comment links back to a site where you can be contacted. Otherwise include a Twitter or email address.
- One entry per person.
- The winner will be selected at random and contacted on Monday November 8th before noon (EST).
- Be sure to check your inbox, messages or comments. If no response is received by Wednesday November 10th at noon (EST), another winner will be selected.
- I will ship anywhere in the world.

I recently packed one of these cupcakes for a stroll through the New England countryside and it was simply perfect. I only came up with the recipe after months of researching and testing recipes dating back to 1952. They are truly amazing. Just thinking about the cupcakes makes me crave a glass of milk.

Ultimate Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup plus 2 tsp. cocoa powder

1 cup plus 2 tbs. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

12 tbs. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix milk and cocoa powder together in pan. Heat gently until well blended. Mixture should be warm but not hot. Turn off heat. Add vanilla and stir.

Whisk remaining dry ingredients together and set aside.

Beat butter in bowl fitted with paddle at medium high speed about 35 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Gradually sprinkle in sugar; beat until white and fluffy 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time beating a full minute after each addition. Scape down bowl.

With mixer on lowest speed add 1/3 dry ingredients mix until almost incorporated. Add 1/3 chocolate mixture mix until almost incorporated. Repeat process until ingredients are added. Be sure to scrape down bowl. Beat until mixture looks satiny about 15 seconds.

Line cupcake tin. Fill 3/4 full of batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

10 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

1/3 cup corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

3 sticks butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate. Mix cream, corn syrup and vanilla and bring to a roiling boil. Stir into melted chocolate. Cool to room temperature.

Beat butter on high with paddle attachment for 1 minute until creamy. On low speed add powdered sugar and blend. Add the melted chocolate mixture and beat with whisk attachment until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate until spreadable about 45 minutes. Frost cupcakes.

Bon Appetit!