Your breakfast is too sugary

You know the American idea of breakfast is too sweet when a cupcake recipe (topped with white chocolate, no less) tastes like something you've had for breakfast just because it's got apple in it.

Anyhow, this week's cupcake is apple-ginger with white chocolate-cinnamon ganache. My apologies for the lack of photo; I didn't think to borrow a camera until they were gone.

For the cupcake itself, I modified Cupcakes Take the Cake's vanilla-almond-peach recipe. I substituted a Granny Smith apple (good for baking 'cause they're so crispy) for the peach, brown sugar for the white sugar, and used 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead of 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond. I added about 1/3 C chopped crystallized ginger as well.

For the topping, I used the basic ganache recipe from joyofbaking.com, except I made it with white chocolate instead of real chocolate, and I added maybe a teaspoon of cinnamon to the cream-butter mixture while it was on the stove.

They tasted pretty nice, although I'd have been happier with them if they'd come out with more of a dome shape (they were a little sunken, due to the extra moisture from the apples I think) and been a little less sweet. I think if I make these again I'll add a pinch of extra baking soda to help them rise better, and use less sugar and maybe 1 tsp vanilla instead of 1 1/2. Also, I'd just sprinkle the cinnamon on at the very end instead of boiling it with the ganache.

Also, I forgot I don't like white chocolate. Next time I'd see how these were with a peanut butter frosting. (Apples and peanut butter are, in my opinion, a match made in heaven.)