Maple Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

More cupcakes from the book, "The Cupcake Diaries". Again, I seriously recommend buying this book if you love cupcakes. This cupcake is a basic vanilla bean cake, and is infused with pure maple syrup. To this cake, it has chocolate chips folded into it. 

The cupcake is then topped off with a whipped chocolate ganache. A whipped chocolate ganache is exactly what it sounds like. It is a simple ganache made of cream and chocolate, chilled until it has the texture of peanut butter and then you whip it up. I think I should have hand whipped it, instead, I used my kitchen aide mixture, and I think I over whipped the ganache, thus the ganache not looking too attractive on these cakes.

 In the beginning I was undecided upon my opinion on these babies. The cakes tasted like a regular vanilla cake, it was difficult for me to detect the maple. I specifically wanted to make the maple cupcakes around this time for fall as well. I love anything apple, maple, caramel, and pumpkin around the fall season. I ended up brushing the tops of the cakes with maple syrup in hopes of bringing out the maple flavor more. I also think I could have added more chocolate chips, I felt as though 1/2 cup for 15 cupcakes was not suffice. I personally would use 1 cup or even a cup and a half if I did this recipe again.

 I really would want to add more maple syrup to the batter, but I am too afraid they wouldn't bake correctly. The texture of this cake was already more liquidy than usual for a cake batter. I am thinking, if I make these again in the future though, about adding some maple syrup into the ganache right after making it, then of course whipping it by hand once it is at the right consistency. I really think those changes could make a huge difference. 

All together, while this cupcake was still good, it has been the least favorite of mine out of the bunches I have made. It is a tasty cake, and the ganache contains the chocolate, but I think it is a bit of a stretch and a disappointment to call it a maple chocolate chip cupcake, and that is my honest opinion. I followed the recipe to the exact tee, as I have with all of their recipes. I was super excited to make this and try it out because it seemed different, a flavor I have never made, or experimented with. Again, I think with some minor changes it could taste more maple like, and with more chocolate chips, that it could be called a maple chocolate chip cupcake.