Let's Get Galactic

What’s black, white & red all over? These cupcakes! Har, har. My jokes are funny!

Seriously though, these are really good! They taste like chocolate chip cookies topped with whipped cream — DELICIOUS!

I’ve been super into the whole black/white/red combo lately. Probably in anticipation of Riot Fest in September! I always love carnivals.

Cupcakes:

1 vanilla bean pod (1 inch long)
2 cups of vanilla sugar
2 tsps of vanilla extract
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 large egg yolks (room temperature)
1 cup of unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup of buttermilk (room temperature)
3.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli brand)

Frosting:

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup of powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

Decorations:

Chocolate sprinkles

Red sprinkles

Chocolate candy melt drizzle

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a sauce pan, heat the buttermilk until it’s barely simmering — Be careful not to let it get too hot! Remove the pan from heat and add the 1/2 inch piece of vanilla bean. Set it aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry cupcake ingredients with the chocolate chips. Set it aside.

In a larger bowl, use your mixer (or a handheld whisk) to cream the butter and mix it with the sugar.  Add the eggs (and yolks) to this one-by-one and make sure to mix them in well!

Slice open the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the buttermilk. Add the vanilla extract and stir everything together.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, making sure not to overbeat the mixture. I poured it in waves and then stirred in between — Poured a little, mixed it up. Poured a little, mixed it up!

Fill your baking cups (or cake pan, if you’re making a cake — but adjust times accordingly and keep an eye on it!) about 3/4 of the way and bake for 20 minutes. Oven times may vary, so be sure to poke the center with something so you can see if it’s cooked through!

Remove and let them cool on a wire rack (or on the counter!)

For the icing, pour the whipping cream into a medium bowl and beat with a mixer until it’s light and fluffy. You’ll know it when the texture gets to the consistency of whipped cream! When it’s there, add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and mix it together really well!

Top with sprinkles, drizzle, whatever you want! I used chocolate almond bark — Melted it, put it in a squeeze bottle and drizzled stripes on top of the cupcakes! 🙂