Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Hi everyone, I hope you all are doing well. It's been a while since my last update and I really miss to share my experiences and more recipes with you all.

I was busy in developing some new cake decorating technique lately. Continuous learning has always been important to me. I have participated in some cake decorating courses in Singapore to improve my essential skills.

I met a very talented, creative and passionate people there. Some of them travel from their country just to attend the courses. In that class, we need to stand for 7 hours a day.

Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty...

But it's worth for me... and I am very pleased to meet with those experts :).

While I was there, I had the opportunity to try a lot of cupcakes in various pastry shops. I was obsessed with cupcakes lately. A wide range of flavors that I had never tried before, one of which I will share the recipe with you now.
So..., let's start with sweet and sour, where it comes from?

Made in France using all natural ingredients with no artificial colorings, no additives or preservatives.

Yes..!!! Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves.

The questions is "How often do you buy or taste cherry jam?"

To be honest, this is the first time I bought and tasted it.

I like the packaging so much and felt in love since the first time I saw it. It looks like a traditional kitchen storage jar and a homemade version in my opinion.

Let me show you what this looks like inside...Some of them told me that Morello Cherry Jam is the best to make Cherry Cupcake. 

The problem is, how can we get those brand in Asia? In my opinion, it won't be a problem if you're using different brands. Who knows the result will beeven better. So don't be confuse...

When you're bored with ordinary cupcake flavors, be creative. Create a unique name, take inspiration from other desserts, as even the smallest addition can add a new depth of flavor. Icing is extremely versatile and easy to add flavor too. So don't be afraid to experiment, you'll never know what you'll get.

Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 1/2 hours
Yiels: 12 servings

INGREDIENTS

For the cupcakes

125 g unsalted butter (soft)

100 g dark chocolate (broken into pieces)

300 g Cherry Jam 

150 g caster sugar 

1 pinch of salt 

2 large egg (beaten)

150 g self-raising flour 

For the dark chocolate ganache

100 g dark chocolate

100 ml double cream  

Dark Rum (optional) 

INSTRUCTIONS

For the cupcakes

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF).

2. Put the butter in a heavy-bottomed pan on the heat to melt. When nearly completely melted, stir in the chocolate. 

Leave for a moment to begin softening, then take the pan off the heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter and chocolate are smooth and melted.

3. Add the cherry jam, sugar, salt and eggs. Stir with a wooden spoon and when all is pretty well amalgamated stir in the flour.

4. Scrape and pour into the muffin papers in their tin and bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out.

For the ganache

1. When the cupcakes are cool, break the chocolate for the icing into little pieces and add them to the cream in a saucepan. 

Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and then whisk - by hand or electrically - till thick and smooth.

2. Ice the cupcakes, smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon, and stand a cherry in the centre of each if you want.

NOTES

•  Salted or unsalted butter? both works well for me.

•  To make self-raising flour; for each cup of plain flour (or all-purpose flour) add 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt, sifted.

• Place any remaining ganache in airtight containers and refrigerate up to a week, or freeze for up to 2 months, bringing back to room temperature before rewhipping to smooth consistency.

luv, Sandra