Mini chocolate-chocolate cupcakes with raspberry and caramel filling
Holly over at PheMomenon is hosting a Blogging For Babies event called Little Wonders. Holly is raising money for the March of Dimes March for Babies in honor of her son Cole. Read all about her story on her blog.
The requirements of the event are simply to make something small. Since you all know I love making cupcakes, I thought mini-cupcakes would be perfect. The truth is, I have supported March of Dimes for quite some time myself. My 13 year old sister was also born premature. I was 14 at the time and remember being very scared. I was so scared in fact, that when the entire family went to see her for the first time in the NICU, I refused to go.
My sister has grown into a wonderful teenager girl (is that even possible?) She’s very intellegent and likes to bake just like me. We enjoy baking together when I see her, which unfortunately, isn’t often enough. Here is the most recent picture of us taken last Christmas. Yes, she’s a tall one.
Back to the cupcakes. I used my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe with my favorite chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe (without the chili powder). I made both recipes dairy free (the caramel was not dairy free).
I usually use the cone method to fill cupcakes. I knew this wouldn’t work very well with mini-cupcakes. Instead I used a special cupcake filling tip that came with my piping bag set. It took a while to get the hang of it, but in the end it worked out fine. I filled some with leftover caramel I had and the rest with some leftover raspberry preserves. Both tasted amazing.
Definitely be sure to check out Holly’s story and support her team for the March of Babies.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Mmmmm I love one dish cupcakes!
http://www.brisbanebaker.blogspot.com
Those cupcakes look delish! Can you tell me more about the “dipping in ganache” technique? Does the ganache need to be a certain consistency first?
I have seen some maple cheesecake around the blogs, maybe that would be awesome use for the sugar? Or to top maple sugar cookies 🙂
I made a seriously awesome maple mousse cake to go with Christmas dinner this year and it used maple sugar. It was one of the best desserts I’ve ever eaten. The link to the post is: http://joanne-eatswellwithothers.blogspot.com/2010/01/frozen-maple-mousse-pie-with-chocolate.html.
Go Butler!! I think I’m going to use your “go to” cupcake recipe to make some Final Four treats for the office Friday
Wow that maple syrup event looks really cool, I wish I had known about it- it looks like they only do it once a year!
Carly – I dipped the cupcakes in the ganache while it was still very liquidy. I did it a few minutes after making the ganache and then let it set up on the cupcakes. Hope that helps.
Jen, the maple syrup experience sounds like so much fun and I’ve always wanted to do it! I wonder if it’s too late this year.
Those cupcakes look so pretty. Can you tell me what kind of liners you’re using? They stay so nice and bright.
ooo I love sugar houses!!! The tastings are always the best 🙂
Lila, I get the liners online. Here is the link for the colored ones, and I also get brown liners as well.
The cupcakes look beautiful and festive!! I love real maple syrup!
I should have a birthday more often. So good…