Cupcake Monday - Almond Joy Cupcakes Take #2

This past weekend I had an order for my Almond Joy cupcakes, but I really wanted to jazz them up a little bit from my original idea.  Luckily the lady wanting them was super flexible and let me do whatever I wanted... nice.

So...

 I made my yummy white cupcakes...

 And scooped out the centers with my little do-hickey cupcake scooper-outer, that I can't remember it's real name that I got at Bed, Bath & Beyond...

 Then I piped in a coconut cream cheese filling... YUM.

 And popped the top back on... just make sure you trim the topper off a little because you can't squeeze it all back in with filling in there.  You can try, but just trust me on this one...  :)

Then after stuffing them and putting the topper back on, I dipped them twice in Chocolate Ganache and garnished them with an almond.

Then pop them in the container and forget to take individual cute shots of your hard work...

Almond Joy Cupcakes #2

Ingredients:

CAKE-

One white cake mix - I used Pillsbury

2 C. milk (room temp)

2 egg whites (room temp)

1/4 C. oil 

1 small box vanilla pudding

Directions:

Mix together all wet ingredients.  Add cake mix and pudding and mix until combined.  Do not over mix!  Bake at 350 for 16 minutes or until they spring back when touched.  As soon as you take them out, pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes.  

For coconut cream cheese filling:
(Courtesy Cook Like a Champion)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:
-Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy.
-Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream.
-Beat in the salt, coconut flavoring, and vanilla extract.
-Continue beating until mixture is smooth and spreadable.
-Add additional confectioners’ sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting, or more cream to thin.
-Fold in the shredded coconut.


For the ganache frosting:
(Courtesy Georgetown Cupcakes)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Callebaut semisweet chocolate chips (6.4 ounces; or other good-quality semisweet chocolate chips)

Lay a large piece of wax paper on the work surface.
Combine the heavy cream and chocolate 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 saucepan and let the mixture melt, stirring until it is shiny and smooth.
Remove the bowl of chocolate ganache from the saucepan; let it cool slightly, for 2 to 3 minutes. Working with 1 cupcake at a time, carefully dip each cupcake top in the warm ganache, twisting your wrist as needed to make sure the cupcake top gets completely coated. To prevent drips, quickly turn the cupcake right side up and place on the wax paper. Allow the ganache to set for 5 minutes before serving.
(If the cupcakes are dipped once, you'll have about 1/2 cup of ganache left over.)