5 from 15 votes
Black Jewel cupcakes
These Black Jewel cupcakes are made of a fudgy chocolate cake base combined with Dutch-process cocoa, and finished with a rich dark chocolate ganache. The batter includes buttermilk, oil, and vinegar to add moisture and tender crumb to the mini cupcakes. After baking in small molds, the cupcakes are topped with a dark ganache and decorated with black sugar icing and various decorations, yielding small, dense, chocolate treats with an intense cocoa flavor.
Servings:
36
Course:
Cake
Cuisine:
Australian
Ingredients
Fudgy Chocolate cake
- 300 gram plain flour 2 cups
- 500 gram caster sugar 2 1/2 cups
- 75 gram Dutch-process cocoa powder 3/4 cup, dark
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 ml of oil 1 cup
- 500 ml buttermilk 2 cups
- 20 ml vinegar 1 Tablespoon
- 2 egg or lemon juice, large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons water Extra of water if very thick
Ganache
- 150 gram dark chocolate lindt or callebaut - 60-70%
- 100 ml cream
- 750 gram black sugar icing roll out
- 160 gram icing sugar plus extra for dusting the bench, powdered sugar
- 36 little decorations- whatever you like
- 1/2 egg white
- 1 drop lemon juice
Instructions
- Use a very small two bite cupcakes tray. Use any size tray or cupcake paper you want though. Make the cake by putting the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and sugar into the bowl and mixing well in a machine or by hand, breaking up all the lumps and mixing well.
- Mix the eggs, oil, vanilla, buttermilk and vinegar till combined, then mix the wet and the dry mixtures together and beat till smooth
- Pour this into the moulds ( always greased and lined with baking paper) or cupcake wrappers a little higher than 3/4 of the way up.
- Bake for 15 minutes or till just cooked in the centre. Cool several minutes in the pan before turning out. Chill for an hour or two or overnight.
- Make the ganache by warming the cream , then add the chocolate and stir till smooth. Spread this onto the cakes and let them dry for a bit. Minw went onto mini cake bases made from cardboard.
- Sprinkle a little sifted icing sugar onto a bench, and roll out the black icing. Measure your cupcake from one side over to the next and cut a circle with that diameter. Using a palette knife under the icing to pick it up from the table drape it over the cake and smooth down, cutting off any excess. a cake this small is not hard to handle, but make sure you have a couple of extras as the first may not look great.
- Continue with each tiny cake till the are finished.
- Decorate however you like, using the edible glue.
Cup of Yum
Glue
- Put 1/2 an eggwhite into a cup or bowl with a drop of lemon juice. Start adding sifted icing sugar a bit at a time until you have a very firm mixture. If you want to add colouring do this now. Gel colours are advised. I make sure mine is just runny enough to dab onto decorations without running off. This will stick decorations onto cakes. You can also pipe it to make dots and lines for designs.