Recipe Chop the chocolate into small pieces. In ‘bain-marie’, over low to medium fire, warm up the chocolate together with the heavy cream, until the chocolate melts. Remove from fire and let it slightly cool. Cover it with a piece of plastic wrap and let it rest overnight at 10 15°C (approximate room temperature at winter time) or in the refrigerator for temperatures over 20°C. Prepare a simple tray or muffin tray by arranging the cupcake paper cups and set it aside for later. In a large mixing bowl, sieve in the cake flour, the baking powder, ground cinnamon and baking soda. Add the sea salt and mix well – using a spoon or a whisk. In a stand or hand mixer – with the paddle attachment on – beat the softened butter for 2-3 minutes. Then add the sugars, and the contents of the vanilla pod. Cream it for another 7 minutes until the butter is lighter in color and texture. Add one egg and mix until it is completely incorporated. Then add the second egg and blend to a smooth mixture. Remove from the mixer, and add 1/3 of the dry ingredients (cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, sea salt) and 1/3 of the buttermilk (or milk with vinegar). Stir – using a wooden spoon or a spatula. Continue with the rest of dry ingredients and the milk and mix well to a smooth batter. Lastly add the QUAKER crunchy oat bites with chocolate and mix well. Divide the batter to the paper cups until you fill up the 2/3 of each cup. Bake in preheated oven at 160°C for 25-30 minutes until you insert a wooden skewer in the middle of the cakes and it comes out clean. When ready, let them cool completely on a cooling rack before frosting them. If you stored the chocolate ganache in the fridge, remove it from the fridge 30 min before using it. In a stand or hand mixer with the whisk attachment on, beat the ganache for 3-4 minutes until grown in volume and fluffy. Transfer the ganache montée to an icing bag with a tip and frost your cakes. Decorate with QUAKER crunchy oat bites with chocolate + enjoy!

TIP 1: Start one day in advance to give the time to the ganache to rest and to the cupcakes to cool completely and be ready for the frosting.
TIP 2: If you don’t have icing bags use a ziplock bag and cut off one of the bottom corners of the bag and it is ready!

by Alexandra Mitsiou