Thursday, June 24

Ho-Ho-ish Cupcakes

I set out to make a replication of the well known "Ho-Ho". I thought I had it all under control, found a good recipe, then tweaked it a bit to make it work with the utensils/ingredients I currently have. I spent some good time on these bad boys and what do I get for it? The cupcakes came out with just their tops falling off...literal "Ho-Ho's" I tell yah! Soon after, I found out that what was in my mind to make was actually called a "Ding-Dong" which made me out to be the true "Ding-Dong" because "Ho-Ho's" are really a rolled chocolate cake! Boy did I screw this one up, not only did my cupcakes turn out to be "Ho's" with their tops continually coming off, I called them the wrong things all together!
All that aside, P loved them! :) I can always count on my husband to try the not-so-pretty, no matter how upset I am about the looks. All looks aside, they tasted great and I really like the 7- minute creme filling that goes in the middle. We used left overs of that all week for nutter-fluff sandwiches, it had a marshmallowie texture and taste! If you so choose to try your hand at WHATEVER these things are called, here is the recipe!

"Ho-Ho Cupcakes"
recipe by smitten kitchen

Chocolate Cake Batter
Ingredients:
3 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
1 1/2 cups hot brewed coffee
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300°F. and grease pans. Line bottoms of 2 10-inch* round cake pans with wax paper and grease paper.
2. Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth..
3. In a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.
4. Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
5. Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

* Note: This cake will overflow if baked in 9-inch cake pans. If you only have 9-inch pans, you might want to 2/3 the cake recipe instead, as following: 2 ounces chocolate, 1 cup coffee, 2 cups sugar, 1 2/3 cup flour, 1 cup cocoa, 1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, etc. and reduce the baking time by at least ten minutes.

**This is where I decided to 1/3 the recipe and make cupcakes! The recipe above makes a WHOLE LOT of cupcakes so if you want to go that route you could either 1/2 or 1/3 the entire recipe.

Marshmallow, or Seven Minute Frosting
Ingredients:
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Use frosting the day it is made.

Once the cupcakes or cakes are cool completely is when you should fill with frosting. Either spread between cake layers or make a small divot in the cupcake to fill with creme. If your cupcakes turn out like mine, their tops easily come off and you can spread in-between layers!

I used a chocolate royal icing for the top of my cupcakes, you could also use a ganache or more of the 7-minute frosting!

3 comments:

  1. it may have fallen apart but it looks heavenly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks so good! And I about spit water all over my computer laughing about them being ho-ho's with their tops falling off!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Holy cow. I planned on making seven minute frosting tonight. How ironic is that?? My grandma used to make it all the time. I'm going to attept to make smores with it.

    ReplyDelete

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