RECIPES: Frost your cupcakes with... cheese!?

By Kara and Erica

In simple terms, ganache is a frosting made of chocolate and dairy - usually cream or butter. We at C:AJ will never settle for the usual, at least not when it fails to include some sort of cheese. Luckily, we were pointed* towards the blog of a like-minded baker at the Cupcake Project, who recently published a recipe for chocolate-cheese ganache ("Chocolate Ganache with the Magic of Cheese"). Genius - or disgusting? We had to find out.

The verdict: genius. Creamy as can be, thick without being chewable, rich without precluding the possibility of seconds. Honestly, we couldn't taste the cheese... Dare us to try bleu next time?

See the end of the post for some pictures from our ganachings.

Here's the Cupcake Project's frosting recipe:

Cheesy Chocolate Ganache (Source: Cupcake Project):

Ingredients:

• 3 oz dark chocolate, loosely chopped (C:AJ used 1.5 oz baker's chocolate, 1.5 oz semisweet morsels)
• 2 oz soft cheese, cubed (C:AJ recommends "Les Freres" for a mild flavor
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 oz heavy whipping cream

(Note: C:AJ doubled this recipe to frost 6 cupcakes and 1 9" x 2" cake... we did not regret it.)

Recipe:

1. Melt the dark chocolate in a small saucepan on very low heat or in a double boiler (a double boiler reduces the risk of the chocolate burning). C:AJ would add that a fake double boiler - one small saucepan inside another, larger saucepan - does the trick.
2. Add the cheese and mix continuously until it is melted and integrated.
3. Mix in the sugar.
4. Remove from heat and quickly mix in the heavy whipping cream.
5. C:AJ suggests letting the ganache cool/settle for at least 15 minutes before frosting the cupcakes - sneaking a taste: totally permitted.

Frosting is obviously the most important part of any baked good, but just in case you're lacking something to frost, C:AJ recommends the following devil's food cake recipe for a base:

Devil's Food Cake (Source: David Lebovitz):

Ingredients:

• 9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup strong coffee (or water)
• ½ cup whole or low-fat milk

Recipe:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter two 9" x 2" cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper. (C:AJ went with 6 cupcakes and one 9" x 2" cake, and doubled the ganache recipe above.)
3. To make the cake layers, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.
4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated. (If using a standing electric mixer, stop the mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides to be sure everything is getting mixed in.)
5. Mix together the coffee and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, the add the coffee and milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.
6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

We recommend actually letting everything cool before starting to frost. Yes, the wait was excruciating (we had to leave the kitchen), but the frosting experience was so perfect... no crumbs, and not a bit of ganache went to waste.

Et voila! A brief visual documentation of our cheesy ganache experience:

Slices of Les Freres, a soft cow's milk cheese produced by Crave Brothers, purchased from the Willy St. Co-op.

Grossest step: stir cheese into melted chocolate.

Yeah, still gross. Looks a little like a turd, but bear with us. It's worth it.

Things starting to come together... Note the glossy sheen!

Delicious. And, might we add, beautiful.

*Thanks to J.M. for the tip!