GHIRARDELLI CUPCAKES RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8×2 inch round pans.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
• In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla.  Set aside..
• In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
• Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid).
• Do not mix above medium speed or over mix the cake batter.
• Divide the batter between three prepared 8 inch cake pans
• Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. Let cool 10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack before turning out.
• In a medium size bowl, whisk the egg yolks and set aside.   In a medium size saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt, blend together.  Gradually stir in the 2 cups of milk.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. 
• Bring the mixture to a simmer.  Remove the saucepan from the heat.  Spoon 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the bowl holding the egg yolks, stir constantly.
• You are tempering the eggs so you will not have scrambled eggs when you pour them into the simmering saucepan.  Pour this into the saucepan, whisk constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.  When it begins to thicken, remove from the heat and add the 2 teaspoons of vanilla.  Remember the filling will thicken even more as it cools. 
• Pour into a heat proof bowl or small casserole dish (for faster cooling) and let cool a bit then cover with plastic wrap, pressing wrap against the filling to prevent a skin form forming.  Refrigerate until the cream is throughly cold before using.
• Place your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.
• Pour heavy cream over the chocolate and place in the microwave for 30 seconds. (times may vary)
• Remove and stir. Microwave for 30 seconds more and when the chocolate has melted almost completely, allow it to sit for 1 minute more before stirring. Stir until you've reached a silky smooth consistency.
• * If your chocolate hasn't melted after the 1 minute recommended in the instructions, simply microwave in small 10-15 second increments until it has nearly completely melted. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth.
• The ganache will cool thicken as it cools. Cool for about 15 minutes or until the ganache has thickened to the desired consistency. It should not be hot when applying to the cake. You can speed up the cooling process by pouring it into an elongated glass casserole dish.
• If the ganache becomes too thick to work with, just microwave for a few seconds at a time until it returns to desired consistency.
• Place the first cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal. Spread with pastry cream filling. Keep in mind when applying the filling that we will also be using a very thin layer of the pastry cream for the outside of the cake as well.
• Add the second vanilla cake layer and spread with more pastry cream. Top with the third cake layer and use the remaining pastry cream to apply a very thin, transparent layer to the outside of the cake. The cake will have a "naked" look to it, but the layers will be sealed by the cream to protect it from drying out.
• Top the cake with ganache. I spooned on the ganache and spread around the top of the cake, and used my small offset spatula to gently push some of the excess over the edge here and there. It's difficult to predict how the ganache will fall with this method, but I do like the look! My cake was chilled at the time that I applied the ganache.
• *This cake should be refrigerated until an hour or so before serving.