Valentine Baking (+ All the Chocolate)

Did you notice that it’s Valentine’s Day weekend? All of my feeds have been full of pink hearts, glitter, chocolate, and I’ve even been getting adds for male body wash that is “girlfriend approved”.

I roll my eyes at most of the fanfare, but i can get behind the focus on chocolate. I mean, who can turn down a gooey brownie, a moist piece of chocolate cake (yeah, i said moist), or a warm chocolate chip cookie.

This year, i was on a quest for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe and, let me tell you, i found it!

The recipe: Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes with Ganache Frosting by Mary Nolan

The cake is rich and decadent, the cheesecake filling adds a nice little surprise, and you can’t go wrong with ganache. Overall, it’s a perfect guilty pleasure to share with your Valentine.. overly chocolate, but not overly sweet.

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
1 egg, at room temperature
2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts (I skipped these)

Ganache Frosting:

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (i also skipped this because Ash doesn’t like coffee, but I’m sure it would be delicious)

Instructions

Cupcakes:

Place rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with cupcake papers.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add the egg and stir until just combined. Gently add half of the flour mixture and stir until just incorporated. Mix in the milk. Add the remaining flour mixture and stir until combined. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Fill prepared cupcake liners with enough chocolate batter to just cover the bottom. Add a dollop of the cream cheese filling to each, then top with remaining batter (cream cheese filling should not be visible).
Bake for 20 minutes. Let cupcakes stand in the pan for 3 minutes and then remove and allow to cool completely on a rack.
Dip each cupcake into the ganache, forming an even layer of frosting. Place in the refrigerator to set, about 15 minutes.

Ganache Frosting:

Place a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water, and whisk together the chocolate, cream, and espresso powder (if using).
Continue whisking until chocolate is melted and the mixture is thick, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

(If this sounds intimidating, you can instead pour heavy cream over the chocolate in a bowl and wait until the chocolate melts. At that point you can whisk it into smooth chocolate goodness)

A side note on finding recipes: When baking, it’s very important to start with a solid recipe. My most trusted recipes are found on the Food Network App, which is super easy to use and every recipe has lots of reviews that you can read through to get additional tips. It hasn’t failed me yet.

Aren’t they gorgeous?

How are you all celebrating Valentine’s Day this year? Whether you are going out to a romantic dinner, enjoying a homemade meal at home, eating takeout on the couch, or boycotting the holiday completely, i hope you do it with chocolate.