I love the Firecracker bonbons and chocolate bars by Chuao Chocolatier (one of the things I will miss about San Diego), and decided to make a cupcake variation. Unfortunately, I don’t have any special-order connections to get my hands on bulk unflavored popping candy. So, of course I went on Amazon.com, and found the next best thing: Pop Rock’s limited edition milk chocolate covered pop rocks! I was worried that by not having a dark chocolate coating, these pop rocks would be inconsistent with the rest of the cupcake, but it achieves a similar effect and offers a nice color contrast.
These are the Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache Filling (my go-to for chocolate cupcakes now), topped with chipotle-infused ganache and dipped in milk chocolate pop rocks. The snap crackle and pop of biting down on the pop rocks is a fun contrast to the rich bittersweet chocolate cake. I went a bit too mild on the chipotle, so I think the kick got a bit lost in the dark chocolate flavor. The next time around, when I’m not rushing to bake at midnight or right before going to work, I’ll fine-tune the proportions and work on the decoration.