Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

By carvalhohm

Ingredients

• 2 milk chocolate bars (1.55 ounces each)
• 1 package (18.5 ounces) plain butter recipe fudge cake mix
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Creamy Chocolate Blender Ganache (recipe below)

Details

Servings 22

Preparation

Step 1

Place rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set pans aside.

Break chocolate bars into quarters, stack them on top of each other, and slice down short end of stack with sharp knife. You will have have about 1 cup of 1/4 inch shavings. Set them aside.

Place cake mix, cream cheese, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop machine and scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Increase mixer speed to medium and blend for 2 minutes more, scraping down sides again if needed. Batter should look thickened and smooth. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (you will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove empty liners, if any.) Place pans in oven.

Bake cupcakes until they spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 20 to 23 minutes. Remove pans from oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run dinner knife around edges of cupcake lingers. Lift cupcakes up from bottoms of cups using end of knife, and pick them out of cups carefully with fingertips. Place them on wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

Meanwhile, prepare Creamy Chocolate Blender Ganache.

Place a heaping tablespoon frosting on each cupcake and spread it out with back of spoon, taking care to cover tops completely. Cupcakes are ready to serve.

Store cupcakes in a cake saver or under glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in refrigerator for up to 1 233k. Or freeze them, wrapped in foil or in cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw cupcakes overnight in refrigerator before serving.

*Creamy Chocolate Blender Ganache:*
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup (4 ounces) evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place chocolate chips in small glass bowl and melt them in microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir with wooden spoon until all chips have melted.

Place warm chocolate in blender along with evaporated milk and vanilla. Blend on high speed until frosting is thick and glossy, 2 minutes. Pour frosting into clean bowl and let sit on counter for 20 minutes. It should thicken up enough for spreading.