Chocolate Ganache

In addition to the rainbow cupcakes I made for 4th of July this past weekend, I also baked 2 dozen for a friend's family party they were having. It was an order for 12 red velvet (which remains the leading favorite) and 12 vanilla with chocolate ganache. When I first heard they wanted chocolate ganache with vanilla cake, I was a bit thrown off guard. Ganache is the smooth, shiny cake coating that is comprised of dark chocolate and heavy cream. It's also frequently paired with chocolate cake.

Cupcake from 4th of July

The only other time I had made chocolate ganache was for my housewarming party last October. I had made four different types of mini cupcakes (which was crazy considering all the other things I had to do) - chocolate with chocolate ganache and Halloween sprinkles, caramel apple, red velvet, and orange vanilla.

Tower of cupcakes from last year's housewarming - Chocolate ganache in middle

There were a couple extra vanilla/chocolate ganache cupcakes left over from the batch so I got to try them. I think I'd label these as cupcakes for adults. Before you get any ideas, I don't mean that kind of "adult" cupcake - I've had so many requests lately for cupcakes for bachelor and bachelorette parties lately with inappropriate cupcake toppers. I mean in that the taste is more sophisticated, probably due to the quality chocolate in the ganache and the absense of traditional frosting. These are definitely the cupcakes I would serve at a dinner party.

4th of July Weekend

I always feel like 4th of July is the turning point in the summer. It's generally when summer starts to take its course and establishes how the remaining summer months are going to be. Fortunately we had some good weather down at the shore and a lot of good times over the past weekend.

In honor of the holiday, I put together some red, white & blue rainbow cupcakes. Over the course of the whole weekend, I toted my cupcake carrier around from bbq to bbq. By Monday, almost all of the cupcakes were gone.