Chocolate Chocolate and More Chocolate

It seems I’ve had an abundance of chocolate cake baking up in the kitchen this week.  And when there is chocolate cake, there is almost certainly chocolate cupcakes soon to follow.

As amazing as this chocolate sponge is … and it’s really quite delicious… finding new ways to design something fresh can sometimes be a challenge for me.  Exploring flavor combinations is fantastic and I still want my work to be interesting.  So, this is what happened in my kitchen this week while working with all manner of milk and dark chocolate.

A special-order birthday cake kicked off the week.  This triple-layer cake went together very nicely and was so fun to decorate.  I loved combining a mix of candy bars, though I had a bit of trouble knowing when to say “When.”  Initially I thought, “That’s enough” and yet… it still needed more.  Because more chocolate is always better.  Adding the dark chocolate with marzipan centers was just the ticket.  To me, the drizzle just brings everything together under a chocolatey blanket of goodness.

With just a few cupcakes remaining from the batter, I carried this candy/drizzle theme a bit further.  Since I didn’t have quite enough whipped chocolate ganache for the cupcakes, I added what I did have to some cream cheese buttercream leftover from a project finished the day before.  Cream cheese and chocolate is a scrumptious combination.

One of my cardinal rules of cupcake design…never, ever use an open round tip for any brown frosting.  Yeah.  It looks like somebody or something pooped on the cupcake. #cardinalrule

That being said, this buttercream was extremely light in color while being quite sturdy.  I took the risk of using an open round tip thinking/hoping/confident the candy and the drizzle would disguise the would-be … #2.  It worked beautifully.  I made a little star pattern with the drizzle which visually broke up the ’roundness’ of the buttercream.  A generous offering of Ritter Sport, Milka, and Reese’s Cups made for a lovely complement.

As much as I love these cupcakes (and I really do) … the Fiestaware offers just the right balance of color and contrast.  The vintage Cobalt and vintage Turquoise Sweets Comport are perfect cupcake stands; the Yellow, Pink, and Chartreuse upended demitasse cups and saucers make for a lovely individual cupcake display.

Rounding out a week of chocolate, I baked this triple-layer chocolate cake for my neighbor.  With a couple ankle biters running around and a new infant, a pick-me-up-cake says “I’m thinking of you and hope you’re well.”

I often pair chocolate with chocolate, but for this one…I left the chocolate sponge to shine by highlighting it against the sexy vanilla buttercream.

I had a really great week.  My life partner and I had time together.  I stayed sober.  And I got to visit with my people by chat and by phone.  Nothing but love.