Devil's Food Cupcakes W/Chocolate Ganache Frosting amp; Centers

Ingredients:

• 13 ounces heavy cream
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate I use a bag of chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup cocoa preferably but not absolutely Valrhona or Cocoa Barry Extract Supermarket cheap stuff works also
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise I use fat free and it works fine
• 2 cups sifted cake flour I rarely ever sift as I find that cake flour seems to always measure right I know I should
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Steps:

• GANACHE
• In a sauce pan bring your cream to a light boil
• Then pour in the chocolate and start stirring immediately
• Keep going until you have a smooth mixture
• At first this will seem like its not working as the chocolate hasnt begun to mix with the cream
• Then
• in second
• it will start to form Just give it time
• Remove from heat and set aside to cool
• Dont be tempted to taste throughout the cooling process as youre not supposed to touch the ganache until it sets
• Put ganache in fridge until youre ready to use
• If youre making these in a hurry
• start making the batter
• If not
• make the batter when youre ready to start baking your cupcakes
• CUPCAKES
• Pre-heat oven to 375F
• Line cupcake tray with cupcake papers
• Whisk together water and cocoa
• Set aside and let completely cool you can put this in the fridge too
• When cocoa mixture is cool
• whisk in the mayonnaise and vanilla until smooth
• Meanwhile
• combine dry ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix on low until combined
• Once mixed
• increase speed to medium and beat in cocoa mixture for one minute
• The batter is supposed to be thin
• but Ive seen it thin/medium
• Poor batter into a measuring cup with a spout and fill each cupcake 1/4 the way full
• Now take out your ganache and with a spoon make a small ganache ball and set one ball in the center of each cupcake
• Continue to fill each cupcake until its 3/4 the way full to prevent spilling batter
• Check to make sure your oven is at 375 and bake for 15-20 minutes until cupcakes are set
• Poke with a toothpick to confirm they are done
• The toothpick should slide out smoothly without any cake on it
• Once completely cooled make sure you cool the cupcakes or your ganache will melt
• frost with the rest of your ganache frosting
• You should have extra ganache left over - about a cup