Fudge Marble Cupcakes

A recipe for 12 regular cupcakes. Sounds simple right? I'm sure it is, I wouldn't know. I tripled the recipe for 36 cupcakes and somehow only ended up with 32. This is just the start of my problems with this recipe. My mixer can handle a triple batch of cupcakes, no sweat. The question is: Can the baker? Next time, I think I'll stick to a cake for the Birthday Club. Oy. As delicious as these cupcakes sound, I hope they come out alright. As of right now, the cupcakes are done cooling, and I am deciding what to do for the topping. (You'll see why later on.) This recipe comes from the book "Cupcakes!" by Elinor Klivans, which can be bought here. So, here's the recipe:

The single batch is first, the triple batch is in parenthesis.

Cupcakes

Information:

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Makes: 12 regular sized cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 ¼ (3 ¾) cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ (1 ½) tsp baking powder 

¼ (¾) tsp baking soda

¼ (¾) tsp salt

1 (3) large egg**

1 (1) large egg yolk**

1 (3) cup sugar

½ (1 ½) cup canola or corn oil

1 (3) tsp vanilla extract

½ (1 ½) cup sour cream

**For a double batch, you double everything except the eggs. For a double batch, you do 3 large eggs only. Well, for a triple batch (that would be a single and a double batch put together), I did 3 large eggs and 1 egg yolk.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix the egg, yolk, and sugar on medium speed until the mix is thick and cream-colored, roughly two minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the bowl if necessary. On a low speed, mix in the oil and vanilla until blended. Continue mixing and add the sour cream until completely blended. Mix in the flour mixture until the batter is smooth.

4. Spoon out ¾ (2 ¼) cup batter and set it aside.

5. Measure ½ (1 ½) cup fudge glaze and gently add it to the batter without mixing the two.

6. Using a spoon, fill each cupcake liner with about 3 tbs of the batter and fudge, without mixing the batter.

7. Using the left-over plain batter, put about 1 tbs of batter on the top of each battered cup, to about ½ inch below the top of the liner.

8. Bake the cupcakes for about 23 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted in the cupcake and come out clean.

9. Let the cupcakes cool and then frost.

(† - See note below)  

The single batch is first, the 1 ½ batch is in parenthesis.

Fudge Glaze

Information:

Prep Time: less than 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Makes: two cups glaze **

**The recipe calls for 1 cup of fudge glaze, and since I have made a triple batch of cupcakes, I need 3 cups of fudge glaze, hence the 1 ½ batch of fudge.

Ingredients:

1 (1 ½) cup heavy cream

2 (3) tbs unsalted butter, cut into two (three) pieces

3 (4 ½) tbs light corn syrup

9 (13 ½) oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ (¾) tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, butter, and corn syrup on low heat. Small bubbles will form, but do not let the mixture boil.
2. Right before the boiling point, remove the pan from the flame and add the vanilla and chocolate chips. Let the mixture sit for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate. Whisk the mixture to completely combine the cream base and chocolate.

(† - Note below ;-) ) This is where the recipe gets tricky… The glaze is not thick enough to frost the cupcakes with, so I am at an impasse. I do not know what to do. Should I just glaze them, or should I whip up some whipped cream and mix in the chocolate glaze and have chocolate whipped frosting? I wasn’t sure what to do, so I Googled “rich and creamy frosting” and what came up? “Butter cream frosting”. So I made a batch of butter cream frosting and heated up the now cool glaze (I had stuck it in the fridge to harden it a bit) and added it to the frosting. This heated up the frosting, so I put in the fridge to cool down, then I used my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator to decorate the cupcakes, then put them in the fridge. I found the recipe for the butter cream frosting here.

Butter Cream Frosting:

Information:

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Makes: 2 ½ cups

Ingredients:

½ cup butter, softened

⅛ teaspoon salt

4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 egg yolk, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs milk (I used non-fat)

Directions:
1. Mix the butter and salt until the butter is creamy.
2. Alternating, add the sugar, vanilla, eggs, and milk. (I did: 1C sugar, vanilla, 1C sugar, eggs, 1 C sugar, milk, 1C sugar)
3. Whip until light and airy.