Galaxy Black Hole Cupcakes

Happy last day of Space Week, friends! Today I thought we would end this week’s activities on a fun (and quite delicious) note with these Galaxy Black Hole Cupcakes. I’ve always dreamed of combining my two passions of space exploration and cupcake baking into the perfect little dessert, and this past weekend I did just that. (And I’m so happy with how they turned out!)

This galaxy cupcake recipe has a chocolate-chocolate chip cupcake base with a chocolate ganache center (the “black hole”) and cosmic buttercream frosting. Add golden sprinkles on top for stars and you’ve got a sweet treat that is truly out-of-this-world!

As you may have guessed, this cupcake is not for the faint of heart. If you are a chocolate lover, this is definitely the cupcake for you! I hope you love them as much as I did!

 

Recipe

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 tbs unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cups cocoa powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

• 2 cups dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream

Frosting Ingredients:

• 16 tbsp salted butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp whole milk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• blue and purple food coloring (I use this customizable kit)
• gold sprinkles & fondant stars

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard cupcake pan with paper baking cups.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar at medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition.
5. Combine the vanilla extract and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
6. Add one third of the flour, followed by one third of the milk, and mix. Repeat. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the last third of the flour, followed by the last third of the milk, and mix until incorporated.
7. Add the cocoa powder, beating on low speed until just incorporated.
8. Stir in the dark chocolate chips to the batter.
9. Using a standard-size ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into a cupcake pan so each well is two thirds full. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes (start checking at 15 minutes) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Once the cupcakes are completely cool, remove the centers of the cupcakes with an apple corer and fill with a scoop of dark chocolate ganache (see next step).
11. For the dark chocolate ganache, combine the heavy cream and dark chocolate chips in a medium heatproof bowl. Fill a medium saucepan with an inch or two of water and place over medium-low heat. Place the bowl over the suacepan and let the mixture melt, stirring until it is shiny and smooth.
12. For the frosting, place all the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat until well combined. Be sure to beat on high speed at the very end for at least 2 minutes to ensure that the frosting is light and fluffy. Add the appropriate food coloring to make one blue and one purple frosting (in separate bowls). In a frosting bag, scoop the blue and purple frosting on opposite sides to get the spiral effect.
13. Frost each cupcake with a swirl of frosting and top with a fondant star and gold sprinkles!

Original recipe here.