Vanilla White Chocolate Overload Cupcakes

Since I made an all chocolate cupcake complete with chocolate mousse center, I wanted to try an all vanilla one with a vanilla white chocolate ganache center.  This is the end result.  It's very vanilla!  Below is the instruction for making the ganache.

The cupcake is a vanilla bean cake filled with a white chocolate vanilla bean ganache, topped with a vanilla bean buttercream and white chocolate shavings.

I am not a huge fan of vanilla but this was really really good.  And no I did not deep fry this one :)

The buttercream is my standard with the exception of 1/2 vanilla bean and 1/4 tspn vanilla extract.  The short cut version is one white cake mix with the addition of 1scraped vanilla bean and the scraped white chocolate for the top.  I've have had people ask for the short cut version so they could replicate.  If you ever want my version, the longer version, just let me know :)

Vanilla White Chocolate Ganache

1 tablespoon corn syrup

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 vanilla bean (scrape the seeds)

6oz white chocolate (chips or squares, just chop the squares up)

Place corn syrup, heavy cream and split vanilla bean pod and seeds in sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Place white chocolate in heat proof bowl.   Remove the vanilla bean pod and pour the hot mixture over the white chocolate.  Mix until smooth.  Place in refrigerator for 45 minutes.  Pour ganache mixture into mixing bowl and whisk at high speed until thick (about 3 minutes).  Fill cupcakes and enjoy!

Maple Penuche Fudge Cupcakes (Deep Fried)

Ok so here is a prettier maple penuche fudge cupcake.  This one is frozen at the moment.  Why?  Because I'm about to deep fry it.  You heard me.  There are deep fried candy bars, deep fried cookies, deep fried pickles.....what about cupcakes?!

I froze the cupcake first so that it had less of a chance of melting.  Well, the frosting anyhow.  I did NOT put a true buttercream on this cupcake because we all know what happens when butter gets hot, it melts.  So I made a maple confectioner's sugar frosting to put on top - less butter.  It will still melt but hopefully won't be a mess.  I was hoping the frosting would stay somewhat intact once it was deep fried.

The second thought was, what do I cover it in?  There are several suggestions for deep fry batter but the one I ran a crossed and liked was pancake batter.  Once I coated it I stuck it in a deep fryer.  This is where I made my mistake.

May I suggest to never deep fry a cupcake like this in a fryer with a basket.  Had I taken the time I would have heated oil in a sauce pan and fried the cupcake that way.  The batter stuck to the basket :(.  Which is why I got the "fried splatter" look on the cupcake (on the right).

Here is the inside.  I labeled it since the cupcake got turned upside down so when I cut it, I ended up cutting it sideways.  The frosting melted but it was a nice melt!  Some of it stayed solid so it was just what I wanted.  You can't see the penuche fudge in the recipe as it is towards the bottom of where I cut.  The fudge didn't melt which I'm glad it didn't and it was still kinda cool.  By my accounts this came out perfect....but the best part....

Oh....my....god......was that good.............

I ate most of it before I was full!  LOL (I had had a big breakfast).  Since I used the Maple Penuche cupcake and pancake batter, the flavors were outrageous!  Sweet and soft on the inside with a bit of melted frosting and crunchy on the outside from the batter.  I will most definitely do this again.  And I can already think of a dozen or so cupcakes I'd deep fry.......