Another Tailgate Treat: Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes

You knew it was coming didn't you? I couldn't post a tailgating series and not include my number one food category. I got this recipe and photo from one of my favorite sites, thepioneerwoman.com. This is the best chocolate batter I've found. It's moist, chocolatey, and hits all the right notes. As if that wasn't enough, to then dunk them into silky, creamy chocolate ganache is just.....walking on the edge between oh so right and oh so wrong. Don't you love how shiny the ganache makes them too? If anything can bring me back around from my little romp with the stomach virus, it's these little babies. So, here's the recipe for the cupcakes: 2 cups sugar, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 t. salt, 1/2 cups buttermilk, 2 whole eggs, 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. vanilla, 2 sticks butter, 4 heaping T. cocoa powder, 1 cup boiling water, and 18 whole Hershey's Kisses (unwrapped). Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Spray 18 muffin cups with baking spray. To make the cake batter, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir to combine and set aside. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and stir to combine. Add boiling water, allow to bubble for a few seconds, then turn off heat. Pour chocolate mixture over flour mixture. Stir a few times to cool the chocolate. Pour buttermilk mixture over the top and stir to combine. Pour 1/4 cup cake batter into each muffin cup. Lightly set one kiss in the middle of each cupcake; do not press down. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove the cupcakes and allow to cool on a baking rack. Now for the Ganache: 8 ounces, weight bittersweet chocolate, 1 cup heavy cream, 6 T. corn syrup, and 2 t. vanilla extract. To make the ganache, heat cream and corn syrup over medium heat. Chop chocolate and put in a separate bowl.  Add vanilla to cream mixture, then pour cream mixture over the top of chopped chocolate. Whisk together until melted, smooth, and glossy. Dunk the tops of the cupcakes in the ganache. Allow to cool before serving..... Friday cannot get here quick enough for me to make these. If you're at the tailgate, stop by and say "Hi" and you might just score one for yourself. Haha! Get it? Score one? Ok...don't worry I cook better than I make jokes. Well, most of the time anyway.