Choc Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Vanilla Buttercream

So I've been experimenting with cupcakes lately and this is a pretty simple recipe but the icing is a bit different. I wanted to try and create a swirled icing effect and I was pretty happy with how they turned out. I have also just discovered Mini Baking Choc Chips! They are the cutest things, so tiny and delicious. I may have gone a bit overboard with them in this post but i am looking forward to using them in a tiny choc chip cookie recipe one day.

The recipe I used for the cupcakes was the same as the Vanilla Flake Cupcake recipe minus the flakes and plus a half a bag of mini choc chips. I used the same Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Ganache as I used to fill the Pistachio Macarons. The swirl effect comes from the way you fill the piping bag. Filling the bag one side with the buttercream and the other with ganache allows you to get a bit of both in every pipe. 

I love that the two toppings have distinctive textures also. The buttercream is light and soft where the ganache is thick and dense so it makes for an interesting bite each time!

Choc Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache and Vanilla Buttercream

Adapted from The Cupcake Project - Ultimate Vanilla Cupcake

What you will need

1 cup caster sugar
1 3/4 cups cake flour (I used plain flour but replaced two tablespoons with corn flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup oil
1 tbsp vanilla
2/3 cup milk
1 packet mini choc chips

200g chocolate melts
100ml cream

1 cup icing sugar
100g butter
2 tsp vanilla essence

What you will need to do

Preheat oven to 175*C and prepare a muffin tray with cupcake wrappers. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and soda, salt and sugar. Add butter and mix on a slow speed until the mixture resembles a fine crumb. In a separate bowl whisk eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla until smooth. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and mix on medium speed until just combined. Slowly add the milk until just combined. Add half the mini choc chips to the batter and fold in.

Fill the cupcake liners half full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. They shouldn't go brown on top so be cautious not to over cook them. When they are done put them on a cooling rack to cool.

To make the ganache, bring the cream to boil then pour over the chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Stir until all the chocolate has melted then set aside to cool down and firm up.

To make the buttercream, beat the butter and icing sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the vanilla.

To ice the cupcakes, prepare a piping bag fitted with a round tip about 1cm wide. To fill the piping bag, holding it upright put the buttercream on one side of the bag and put ganache on the other side. This way you will get a swirled effect when you pipe. Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes and sprinkle the tops with remaining choc chips.