$150 White Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Saffron Ganache

Our house is located on a cul-de-sac named Lucy Circle, which is a street off Linus Lane, located off Woodstock Drive....no, the house is not a red dog house with Snoopy on top; but it is a known hangout for hungry kids! At any given moment you'll find brownies baking in the oven, burgers on the grill, and kids hanging out in the backyard playing volleyball. It's also called "The Lady Cave", since there are no men living under the roof; just me and my two girls enjoying life! Here's my Friday night contribution to some hungry volleyball players....$150 White Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Saffron Ganache. They have no idea how much saffron costs, but the smiles on their faces are worth a million dollars! Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cupcakes
by Kimberly Dockery
adapted from Food & Wine

Makes 20 cupcakes

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1- 2 Marx Foods Tahitian Vanilla Beans (I prefer 2 beans!), split lengthwise, seeds scraped from both sides of the bean
2 1/2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup milk

1) Beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until soft and fluffy.

2) Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Add the seeds from the vanilla bean and mix.

3) Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add some of the flour to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, then add some of the milk. Continue to mix in a dry-wet-dry method, ending with the dry.

4) Scoop the batter into cupcake papers, filling each 3/4 full. Bake at 350F for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Saffron & White Chocolate Ganache:
8 ounces white chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon Marx Foods Sargol Saffron Threads

1) Place the saffron in the cream and let sit for about 10 minutes.

2) Chop the chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl.

3) Heat the cream and saffron on the stove over medium heat until bubbles form around the edge.

4) Pour the cream over the chocolate, let sit for 1 minute, then stir until smooth.

5) Let sit for 15 minutes, then dip and swirl cupcakes in the ganache, shake off the excess, and decorate with some colored sugar or some saffron if you're crazy rich.