Hostess Cupcakes

By ghinman

Ingredients

• Cakes:
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. flour
• 2 1/2 cups Cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup, sugar
• 1/2 cup, water
• 3 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• Filling:
• 1 cup, heavy cream
• 6 oz. finely chipped chocolate
• Glaze:
• 3 ox. finely chopped, bittersweet chocolate
• 3 Tbs. boiling water
• 1 Tbs. egg white, at room temp.
• 1 pinch, cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup plus 2-3 Tbs. convectioner's sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Make the cupcakes:
Position a racj ub the center and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter 24, 1x3/4x3/4 in. (1 oz.) muffin cups. Into a med. bowl, sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Mix in the sugar. Make a well in the center. Whisk in the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Blend until smooth. The batter will be very thin. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the cups comes out clean, about 12-14 min. Cool the cupcakes in the pans on a wire rack for 5 min. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and finish cooling on the rack.

Make the filling:
In a heavy, med. saucepan over med.-high heat, bring the cream to a boil. Add the white chocolate and remove from heat. Let the mixture stand briefely; stir until smooth. Transfer to a metal bowl and refrigerate until chilled thoroughly, stirring occasionally. To speed the process, set the metal bowl over a lg. bowl of ice water; stir the chocolate mixture until cool). With an electric mixer, beat the white chocolate mixture just until fluffy, about 1 min. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8 in. plain tip. Insert the pastry tip 1/4 in. into the bottom of each cupcake and squeeze a little filling into each one.

Make the glaze:
Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Whisk in the boiling water and blend until smooth. One at a time, dip the top of each cupcake into the warm glaze. Turn the glazed cupcakes right side up and set them on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Refrigerate the cupcakes for 5 min. to set the glaze. In a med. bowl, whick the egg white until frothy. Stir in the cream of tartar. Gradually mix in enough of the confectioner's sugar to make a fairly stiff and smooth icing. Fill a small paper cone with the icing and cut a 1/16 in opening at the tip. Remove the cupcakes from the frig. Pipe a design on top of the cupcake. Let the design harden and then cover and refrigerate the cupcakes. Serve at room temp. The cupcakes can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance, or frozen up to 2 weeks.