I can’t believe it, but tomorrow it will be 6 years since Pete and I were blessed with our oldest daughter Olympia.

She is just a few days into kindergarten, and today is her “School Birthday.” I wanted to make her special cupcakes to take with her and I let her choose the flavor (chocolate-chocolate of course!) and the color (Turquoise) and then I told her the rest would be a surprise.

I wish I was going to be in the classroom to see all of the kids expressions when they realized that these cupcakes would be filled with an extra special surprise inside! I first saw these type of surprise cupcakes on my friend Amanda’s Blog, and I knew that at some point I would have to make them!

For the cake I used one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes and then made a fudgy chocolate ganache frosting for the top. But it is the brightly colored little chocolate candies inside that steal the show! The combo is enchanting and I hope you give them a try, they are completely easy and delicious!

To make these Triple Chocolate Surprise Cupcakes, this is what you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 30 cupcake liners in pans.
In a small pot bring the cream to a simmer. Put the chocolate pieces in a medium bowl and then pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces. Let sit 10 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool and set up, at least an hour.

In a medium bowl whisk the cocoa powder and the boiling water until smooth. Set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and the vanilla and beat until well combined and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour,  baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and the cooled chocolate mixture and mix until well combined.

Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners and set them in the middle rack to bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees. (you will probably have to do this in two batches.) Let the cupcakes sit out until they are totally cool, about 30 minutes.

Using a pairing knife, cut a circle out of the top of the cupcake, then use a small spoon to dig the center of the cupcake out.

Fill the inside of the cooled cupcakes with assorted m&m’s or some similar candy.

Put the cooled ganache frosting into a pastry bag or squeeze bottle with a star tip and pipe the frosting in directly over the top of the cupcake and candy.

Decorate the top of the cupcake with candy and sprinkles.