Can't believe I'm saying this but I am getting sick of chocolate

I went shopping one day and saw that a box of 8 Bulla Crunch ice creams were one for $6 or 3 boxes for $10. My mind said "Gosh, they are cheap" but my body said "They won't be good for you". As you can guess, my mind took over. But because my partner needed the freezer for his diet ingredients, I had to start clearing space so over two weeks, I had 3 boxes.

And as fate had it, I was wanting to make ganache as I haven't done that before so really, I just wanted to play with the icing, rather than make the cake. But ganache is really only good for one thing - Chocolate mud cake. So I had to make that too and had to scrounge around looking for a recipe for ganache and mud cake.

I didn't even taste the cake and ganache until two days later, after quite a number of people commented on the moistness of the cake, and remembering that I haven't taken a photo of the cross section of the cupcake that I brought one home from the class whom I had baked it for. So after the photos, I tasted it and true enough, it was the best thing I've baked ever. But now, I am all chocolate-out but this has become my most beloved recipe so I had promised a friend to bake it for another friend's birthday coming up in Feb.

Chocolate Mud Cake with Ganache

Ingredients:
(makes 24 cupcakes)
190gm milk chocolate
60gm dark chocolate
250gm butter
190ml water
155gm self raising flour
170gm plain flour
30gm cocoa powder
1/2 tsp bicarbinate soda
450gm sugar
4 eggs
40ml oil
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
125ml buttermilk

Method:

1. Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan and allow chocolate to melt slightly before adding in the water.
2. Allow chocolate to fully melt and until the mixture is a smooth consistency.
3. Allow chocolate to cool to room temperature.
4. Sift the self-raising flour, plain flour, cocoa powder, and bicarbinate soda into a large bowl.
5. Add the sugar in with the flour.
6. In another bowl, combine the eggs, oil , essence and buttermilk and whisk until the eggs are thoroughly incorporated into the fluid mixture.
7. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour the egg mixture into the centre of the well and fold the mixture through.
8. Pour the chocolate into the combined mixture in three batches, fully mixing the mixture after each addition. (The batter should be pretty runny)
9. Line a 12 cupcake muffin tray with cupcake liners and fill it two-thirds full of batter.
10. Place into a preheated 160 degrees Celcius oven for 30 mins or until skewer comes out clean.
11. Repeat steps 9-10.
12. Take out of oven and allow to cool to room temperature, before placing it into the fridge for an hour prior to coating it with ganache.

The recipe is actually for a cake which is required to be placed in the oven for 1 1/2hours.

Ganache:
300gm milk chocolate
60gm butter
62ml thickend cream

1. Place all ingredients in a saucepan and place it over low-medium heat until the chocolate has just melted.
2. Remove from the stove and stir until the chocolate mixture is glossy and smooth.
3. Pour over the muffins if desired, or wait for the ganache to cool down slightly so that it is a spreadable consistency.

Note: By pouring the ganache over the muffins, the sides of the muffin liners can get pretty sticky and messy so I had dipped the muffins into the ganache and held it down for a few seconds. However, some still dripped onto the sides of the muffin liners. Best way is to probably wait if you have the time and spread it with a palette knife but that may not be as smooth if you had poured it on.