Home Run!!!!

Lately I've been feeling the need to bake....A LOT!!!  So, when my husband's office announced they were having a softball game followed by a potluck, I quickly got to work planning what to make. I like to take cupcakes to potlucks because they are easier to serve than cake, so I knew I'd be making some sort of yummy cupcake.  After checking out some ideas on CakeCentral, I knew just what I wanted to do....chocolate cupcakes with buttercream "grass" topped with a fondant softball. 

I've been watching a lot of cake shows and cupcake shows and I've been intrigued by their use of fillings in cupcakes.  I'd never tried before so I figured I'd give it a shot. My original thought was to fill them with whipped ganache but I was too impatient to cool and whip the ganache so I just went with lukewarm ooey-gooey ganache instead. I've seen many people using apple corers to create a hole for the filling; I didn't have one of those so I used a bismarck tip. I think the bismarck tip worked extremely well for the filling I was using, it wouldn't work so well if you wanted to use a chunky filling. Using the bismarck tip, I was able to insert the ganache into three separate holes rather than one larger hole; this ensured there was ganache throughout.

These cupcakes were AMAZING; it was like having a truffle inside your cupcake.  I'm definitely looking forward to working with more fillings for cupcakes.

The finished product:

I've mentioned a few cake shows in my posts, here are a few I like:

Cupcake Wars

Ace of Cakes

Cake Boss

DC Cupcakes

Amazing Wedding Cakes

Did I forget any?

Also, I just heard that Bravo is going to take Top Chef to another level with Top Chef: Just Desserts.  I don't know how much cake will be involved, but I'm really excited for this show!