Life By Chocolate

I made these cupcakes today for a dessert supper (how wonderful does that sound!) that we are having at church tonight since it is the last night in the quarter for our bible class.  The recipe for these Life By Chocolate cupcakes comes from The Pioneer Woman's website.  You can link to her recipe here:  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/life-by-chocolate/.

I fully intended to follow her recipe, but I left out one important ingredient - baking soda!  I actually noticed that I hadn't put in any baking soda or baking powder but decided that must be how the recipe was written.  When I looked back later, there was a teaspoon of baking soda added when the buttermilk mixture was combined.  I missed that, but I after tasting the dessert...I like the deletion.  These cupcakes, of course, didn't raise much but the texture is more of a chocolate torte than a brownie or cake.  A little more fancy than a cake.  And I think that is good!  A wonderful mistake that I will probably make again.

The ganache icing is wonderful and super easy.  It makes a great topping instead of icing.  I used dark chocolate which is a marvelous contrast with the sweet cake.  This recipe made 18 cupcakes plus enough for a small ramekin.  You could probably make 20-22 cupcakes, but I prepared one 12- cupcake pan and one- 6 cupcake pan.

Have a great Wednesday night!

Note:  5/27/10  These are really great after they have been refrigerated and are very cold.