VWAV Fauxstess Cupcakes
Posted by RobinMc on Jul 17, 2006 · Member since Jan 2003 · 131 posts
We made these as a family activity last night...and WOW! They are great! I had held off on making them because the recipe is three pages long. That seemed very overwhelming to me. But you really only make 1) the cupcakes, 2) the cream filling, 3) the chocolate icing to dip them in, and 4) icing to write squiggles. It isn't very complicated - or even that time-consuming - at all.
We used plastic baggies instead of icing bags because we don't have icing bags. They worked just fine.
I doubled the recipe to make 24. Next time I will only double the cupcakes and multiply the other three by 1 1/2 because I had leftovers of those.
I suggest that you go for it!
Actually, that's what finally got me to make them. I bought a box of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa not realizing how BLACK it is. Everything I made with it turned out looking like dirt. Then I remembered that recipe calling for that, so I used it. The color was perfect.
I agree that these are great. When we have company I make the whole recipe, but otherwise, I just do the cupcakes and chocolate frosting. While the cream filling is good, and the squiggly icing adds a nice touch, the cupcakes are great without them and it cuts down on the sugar and fat and saves some time.
It's worth it to get the black cocoa powder. If you can't find it in the store, you can buy it online at King Arthurs. The other recipe in the book that uses the black cocoa is the raspberry blackout cake which is also incredible.
On another note, I just made the Cherry Almond Muffins from VWAV and they were incredible. So easy to make and they were delicious. I added more cherries than called for, but only because I really like cherries.
Sometimes I like to make the raspberry blackout cake as cupcakes (it will make 24 and you will have plenty of icing and filling for them) and use it in the Fauxstess recipe. Don't sweat the black cocoa powder, I have used Dutch-processed and also Fry's in a pinch and both have worked fine, the colour is just not as dark.
Some have complained about the filling being gritty--make sure to use superfine or caster sugar. You can also blend regular granulated sugar until fine.
Anyway, this recipe is awesome and was a huge hit at my birthday party.