Vanilla Cupcakes and White Chocolate Ganache Roses

I adore buttercream and have been using it for a while to pipe onto cakes/cupcakes. However, I recently got asked to make cupcakes for a hen party, and was told that the bride hated buttercream. I needed to work out a delicious frosting that would look beautiful on a cupcake. After many attempts I found the fool proof recipe for a pipeable white chocolate ganache. The flavour is amazingly rich and chocolatey, it has a truffle-like texture, and the ganache pipes like a dream! It's even simpler to pipe than buttercream in some regards, as the consistency is always perfect (unlike buttercream, which can easily be too firm or loose).

I used a 2D nozzle to pipe roses on my vanilla cupcakes. Piping roses is a doddle, so don’t be scared.

This is a 2D nozzle

If you want to make more/less cupcakes, there are some really easy ratios I use when making both the cupcakes and ganache* – the recipe below makes 12 cupcakes. 

These fill bun cases rather than muffin cases! If you want the bigger cupcakes, double the recipe.

Bun cases (left) vs muffin cases (right)

Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 150g margarine (such as Stork)
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

For the ganache:

• 200g white chocolate, finely chopped
• 122g double cream

Method:

1. Make the ganache. In a saucepan heat the double cream until bubbles are beginning to form around the edges of the pan.

2. Tip the white chocolate (cut into small chunks) into the pan. Swirl the pan so that the chocolate is completely coated, then cover with a lid. Leave for 5 minutes.

3. Take the lid off the pan, and stir the ganache until all of the chocolate has melted and incorporated with the double cream. Pour into a bowl, cover with Clingfilm and refrigerate for at least one hour.

4. Make the cupcakes. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c/gas mark 4. Place bun cases in a bun/muffin tray.

5. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, flour and vanilla, and quickly fold in, until no more flour can be seen.

6. Place spoonful’s of mixture into the bun cases – try to fill them to about halfway.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until springy to the touch, and a skewer inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.

8. Remove cupcakes from the tray onto a wire rack, and leave to cool.

9. Check on the ganache. When the bowl is tilted, no ganache should move (i.e. it has set). If it has reached this stage, remove from the fridge and leave at room temperature for at least 20 minutes. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Not doing this makes the ganache very prone to splitting.

10. Use an electric whisk to beat the ganache into soft peaks. This will only take a few minutes.

11. If you want to two tone your cupcakes, place 2-3 tablespoons of the whipped ganache into a separate bowl. Add a small amount of food colouring (I use concentrated food gels to avoid changing the consistency of the ganache), and stir in until the colour is even throughout.

12. Prepare your piping bag. Put a 2D nozzle into the bottom of the piping bag. Up one side of the inside of the bag, stripe the coloured ganache. Go all the way from the piping nozzle to about halfway up the bag.

13. Pour in the non-coloured ganache – if you look at the bag, the majority will be white with one big line of the chosen colour. Cut the end off of the piping bag, so that the piping nozzle sticks through.

14. Starting at the cente of the cupcake, pipe a dot, and then move out in a spiral around the cupcake top. This creates the beautiful two-toned rose.

15. Decorate your cupcakes with fondant decorations, such as hearts and flowers. A sprinkle of edible glitter makes the cupcakes look even more special.

16. Enjoy!

*In terms of ratios for the cake, use 50g margarine, 50g sugar, 50g self-raising flour and 1 egg for every 4 cupcakes. For the frosting, 100g of white chocolate requires 66g of double cream.