chocolate ginger cupcakes topped with chocolate mousse

The first thing I had ever baked with Katrina were Raspberry Coconut Cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting, toasted coconut, and raspberries.  It was one of the first weekends we had spent together in Chicago and was a memorable experience for me.  Katrina is typically the baking queen in this household, but this weekend I pulled out her favorite cupcake book and made one that she has never had before.  My baking performance was respectable, and the Chocolate Ginger Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Mousse were lip smacking delicious.






A cupcake book that we have used often and never seems to fail us is Cupcakes by Pamela Clark.  It’s a wonderful collection of simple cupcake recipes with mix and match toppings, beautiful photography, and a glossary full of decorating tips and tricks at the end.  The Chocolate Ginger Cupcake is one that Katrina has never made before.  I’ve never owned or used ground ginger in my entire life, and I seem to have used it twice in the past week.  It’s a very interesting flavor to work with, and pairs well with the sweetness of the chocolate.  It’s enhanced with cinnamon and nutmeg to give it a spiced kick that is great for the late fall and early winter.  Try it out for yourself and see if you like it.   Cupcakes is a book that I would recommend adding to your kitchen collection.  The original recipe is entitled “toffee creams”, but I have adapted the recipe to use dark chocolate mousse instead.


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ingredients (makes 12 cupcakes):

See print friendly version

  • For Dark Chocolate Mousse
    • 5 oz. dark chocolate chips
    • 3/4 c. heavy cream
    • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
    • 2 eggs, separated
    • 3 tbs. sugar
  • For Chocolate Ginger Cake
    • 1/2 c. brown sugar
    • 1/2 c. self rising flour
    • 1/2 c. all purpose flour
    • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
    • 1 tsp. ground ginger
    • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
    • 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
    • 6 tbs. salted sweet cream butter, softened
    • 1 egg
    • 1/4 c. buttermilk
    • 2 tbs. clover honey
    • 3 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

directions:

  1. Beginning with chocolate mousse ingredients, combine chocolate, vanilla extract, and half of the cream in a double boiler and stir until smooth.
  2. Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.  Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, and then add sugar 1 tbs. at a time until fully dissolved.  Beat remaining cream in a separate small bowl.
  3. Mix egg yolks into cooled chocolate mixture.  Gently fold in whipped cream, and then the egg whites.  If you have never messed around with egg white proteins before, this step is very enlightening.  It’s amazing how the chocolate mixture becomes light and airy.  Use eggs that are a few days old at room temperature for optimum results.
  4. Place mixture in a shallow container and set aside in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.  The next time you open the container you’ll have some delicious dark chocolate mousse.  Be careful not to eat it all!
  5. Moving on to the cupcakes…. preheat your oven to 325F, and line a standard cupcake pan with paper (or silicon) baking cups.
  6. Measure and add everything but the chocolate to a large mixing bowl.  Combine the ingredients together with a spatula, and then beat with an electric mixer on medium until the batter is a uniform light brown color.  Stir in the chopped chocolate and spoon evenly into the baking cups.
  7. Bake for 28-35 minutes, and then cool to room temperature.  If you don’t mind messy cupcakes, spoon the chocolate mousse directly on to the cupcakes.  If you want to get a little fancy, create a lightly greased ring around each cupcake using a strip of aluminum foil folded in half lengthwise, spoon in the mousse, level the top, and then set in the freezer for 20 minutes.  After the mousse is sufficiently cooled, remove the rings and shape with a spoon dipped in hot water.


There you have it!  The mousse topping was much harder to make than the cupcake itself.  Mine turned out a lot smaller than I expected.  I either made a mistake somewhere with the baking soda measuring, or these cupcakes just aren’t as explosive as the other cupcakes we have made in the book.  Either way, they tasted awesome.  I wouldn’t mind having this as a full size cake covered in cream cheese frosting!  Yum!


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