I had this recipe in my "interesting to make" file for over a year. I stumbled across it when I was doing a little reorganizing. So many recipes not enough time. The black sesame seeds, ginger, wasabi and chocolate got my attention, I was curious how they played together for flavor. Is this a good desert after meal of sushi? Maybe so. I liked the Asian influence. Next time I might increase the wasabi, just a little.
Your mind wanders when your baking, at least mine always does. As I was working through the laundry list of ingredients getting everything lined up -- chopped, scrapped and measured, this recipe struck me as a bit "over the top. " Chocolate cupcakes, bathed in ginger syrup, coated with ganache and topped with frosting. Decadent, I think so. I found this recipe over a year ago, before were consumed with the economy, before job cuts were an everyday occurrence, before the magazine racks were filled with promises of "meals on a budget" and before websites were littered with recipes tagged "from the depression era." The recipes I'm seeing now have fewer exotic ingredients, the focus is on pantry staples, quantity still reins, but without as many bells and whistles. I wonder how baking will be effected long term? Will we have recipes from the Recession of 2009?
Heavily adapted from epicurious.
Black pearl ganache:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 c whipping cream
1 t ground ginger
1/2 t wasabi powder
2 T black sesame seeds
1 T corn syrup
1/4 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
In small pot, bring cream, wasabi and ginger to boil. Pour cream mixture over chopped chocolate and allow to stand 15 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Add sesame seeds and corn syrup, mix well. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature, stir in butter. Allow to cool overnight.
Ginger syrup
1 c water
1/2 c sugar
5 T matchstick-size strips peeled fresh ginger
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
In small sauce pan, combine water, sugar vanilla bean seeds and ginger.Place 1 cup water, sugar, and ginger in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer 2 minutes remove from heat. Allow to stand at room temperature for one hour. Strain liquid into small jar. Chop ginger. Cover and refrigerate.
Cupcakes
2 c boiling water
1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
2 3/4 c AP flour
2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 1/4 c sugar
1 c unsalted butter, room temperature
4 eggs, room temperature
1 T vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the wells of two cupcake pans/24 wells with wrappers. Set aside.
In large bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In medium heatproof bowl add coca and ginger, whisk in two cups of boiling water. Set aside.
In bowl of standing mixer beat butter and sugar until fluffy, add eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Mix in vanilla. Alternate flour mixture and coca mixture beating well between each addition. Fill cupcake well 3/4 full. Bake for 17-21 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
Ginger Butter Cream
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 t vanilla
1 t ground ginger
1 T whole milk
In bowl of standing mixer, whip butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, salt and ginger, beat well. Add sugar in three increments, beating well between each addition. Add milk until desired consistency. Whip on high 3 minutes.
To assemble
Poke holes in cooled cupcakes using a wooden skewer. Bush tops of cupcakes with ginger syrup. Pour ~ 2 t ganach on top of each cupcake, sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Pipe rosette of buttercream on top.
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