Mock Hostess Cupcakes

Title: Mock Hostess Cupcakes

Categories: Cakes

Yield: 22 servings

2 tbsp clour

2 1/2 tb Cocoa powder

-Dutch process)

3/4 ts Baking soda

1/4 ts Salt

1/2 c Sugar

1/2 c Water

3 tb Vegetable oil

1 1/2 ts Distilled white vinegar

1 ts Vanilla extract

FILLING

1 c Heavy whipping cream

6 oz Finely chopped white

GLAZE

3 oz Finely chopped bittersweet

-chocolate

3 tb Boiling water

ICING

1 tb Egg white, at room

-temperature

1 pn Of cream of tartar

1/2 c Plus

2 to 3 tbsp

-confectioner's sugar

These ultra-moist, dark chocolate mini-cupcakes are filled with creamy

white chocolate ganache. They're a variation on a whimsical cupcake

that Michael Roberts serves at Los Angeles's Trumps restaurant at

teatime.

CUPCAKES

Make the cupcakes:

1. Position a rack in the center and preheat oven to 325øF. Lightly

butter twenty-four 1-3/4 x 3/4 (1-oz) muffin of biscuit cups.

2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda,

and salt. Mix in the sugar. Make a well in the center. Whisk in the

water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Blend until smooth. (The batter

will be very thin.)

3. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups. Bake until a cake tester

inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean,

12 to 14 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pans on a wire rack

for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pans and finish cooling

on the rack.

Make the filling:

4. In a heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream

to a boil. Add the white chocolate and remove from heat. let the

mixture stand briefly; stir until smooth. Transfer to a metal bowl

and refrigerate until chilled thoroughly, stirring occasionally. (To

speed the process, set the metal bowl over a larger bowl of ice

water; stir the chocolate mixture until cool.) With an electric

mixer, beat the whit chocolate mixture just until fluffy, about 1

minute.

5. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain

tip. Insert the pastry tip 1/4-inch into the bottom of each cupcake

and squeeze a little filling into each one.

Make the glaze:

6. Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Whisk in the boiling water and blend until smooth. One at a time, dip the top of each cupcake into the warm glaze. Turn the glazed cupcakes right side up and set them

on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Refrigerate the cupcakes for 5 minutes to set the glaze.

Make the icing:

7. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Stir in the

cream of tartar. Gradually mix in enough of the confectioner's sugar

to make a fairly stiff and smooth icing. Fill a small paper cone with

the icing and cut a 1/16-inch opening at the tip. Remove the cupcakes

from the refrigerator. Pipe a design (a squiggle, spiral, etc.) on

the top of each cupcake. Let the design harden and then cover and refrigerate the cupcakes. Serve at room temperature.

The cupcakes can be made and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance, or frozen up to 2 weeks.

22 to 24 miniature cupcakes.

Source: White Chocolate, by Janice Wald Henderson

MMMMM