Cupcake Day.

Here we go again. I mentioned to Ashley a few days ago that I never get asked to bring dessert for Sunday diner. So Saturday Joanne calls and asks if I can bring dessert. Is that weird or what. So I decided to make cupcakes.

1st up, a chocolate lovers paradise, Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes. These are for serious chocolate lovers.

Made from scratch, these cupcakes have an entire can of Hershey's chocolate syrup. Not to mention chocolate ganache frosting. Ruth asked for recipes, so here you go.

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes Recipe (makes 20-24 cupcakes)

from the Barefoot Contessa (I made a few adjustments. The original recipe had coffee and I substituted cocoa powder)

• 1/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 (16-ounce) can Hershey’s chocolate syrup
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder

For the ganache:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease muffin pan or use paper liners.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the chocolate syrup and vanilla. Mix in the flour and coffee granules until just combined. Be careful not to overbeat, just barely mix all ingredient together.

Fill muffin cups with batter halfway. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Don’t overbake! Let cool thoroughly in the muffin pan. Again, let cool thoroughly in the muffin pan. I repeat, let cool thoroughly in the muffin pan. Get it? Got it? Good.

For the ganache: In a double boiler (with simmering water in the bottom) heat the heavy cream, chocolate chips, and instant coffee until warm and smooth, stirring occasionally.

If you’d like you can dip the tops of the cupcakes into the ganache. (I didn’t dip these. I topped the cupcakes with a spoonful of ganache but if you like dipping, have at it. It may look mo’ bettah dipped.) Do not refrigerate.

Not every one in the family likes chocolate so I also made pineapple upside down cupcakes.

These are made with a white cake mix. The topping is 1/2 cup butter (melted) and 1 cup brown sugar. I put a spoon full in the bottom of each cupcake pan (my pans are silicone so no stick factor). I put half a maraschino cherry and then a spoon full of crushed pineapple. You need to bake a few minutes longer than regular cupcakes. When you take them out of the oven run a knife around the sides of the cupcake pans and invert onto a cookie sheet.

So I went a little crazy and added white cupcakes (used some of the batter from the pineapple upside down cupcakes) with home made buttercream frosting. If you want to make really good buttercream frosting, use real butter and real cream. Margarine and milk just don't cut it.

So there was something for every one!