A salty-sweet treat

When I was flipping through my cookbook/magazine last week, looking at the Shamrock Milkshake Cupcake I stumbled upon this recipe. As soon as I saw the word "salt' AND "caramel" in the title I knew this was going to happen asap. I mentioned to a few coworkers last week that this was my plan, and they all started drooling, immediately. All of those weight-watchers instantly made a plan to watch their points for the following Wednesday because a possibly epic cupcake was on it's way.
What is it with salt vs. sweet? Perhaps you're not sure if you're a fan of that combo, yet? Well, if you need some convincing, give this a whirl. You won't be disappointed.

Salted Caramel-Chocolate-Bourbon Cupcake

from BHG Cupcake Magazine, or on their website

For the batter:

1 c butter

3 eggs

2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 c water

1/3 c bourbon

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

For the fudge frosting: 

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, shopped

2 tbsp butter

1/2 c sour cream

2 1/2 c powdered sugar

For the salted caramel:

2 tbsp whipping cream

1 tbsp bourbon

24 unwrapped vanilla caramels

1/4 tsp sea salt

Additional sea salt, for garnish

Allow butter & eggs to sit at room temperature for 30 min. Meanwhile, prep your cupcake pans. This recipe will give you between 32 & 36 cupcakes, no problem. In a medium bowl stir together your flour, soda, and kosher salt. set aside.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave (uncovered) your bittersweet & semisweet chocolate for 1 minute, then stir. Microwaver for another 30 seconds, then stir until smooth. Let cool slightly.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter by itself for about 30 seconds, then slowly begin to add your sugar, about 1/4 c at a time. Beat at medium speed until combined, scraping as necessary. Slow down your mixer, then add your eggs one at a time, making sure they are fully incorporated after each addition. Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla. Alternately add flour mixture, and bourbon mixture to the chocolate mixer, beating at low speed after each addition, until just combined.

Grab your trusty ice cream scoop and start scooping batter into your cups, filling about 3/4 full. Now, you want to add this much batter because these are not going to rise (and stay risen) like your normal cupcakes. These are going to fall. Little makes my heart as sad as it gets to see my beautiful cupcakes deflate! About 3/4 into cooking time you will look through the window and see some beautifully plump cupcakes. By the time you remove them from the oven, they will be flat as a pancake - maybe even flatter if hey have an indent. Don't cry....don't panic - accept it for what it is, then move on. How could you possibly easily pool a puddle of caramel sauce on top of a rounded cupcake? See...it'll be ok. 

Bake your cupcakes for 18 minutes, or until your toothpick comes out clean, when inserted. Let cool in trays for 5 minutes, then remove them to a wire tray, to finish cooing. While they cool, prep your frosting.

In a medium saucepan melt 6 oz bittersweet chocolate and 2 tbsp butter over low heat. Stir frequently, or you risk it burning. Once melted, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 c sour cream. Put your powdered sugar in mixer bowl. Once your sour cream is incorporated into chocolate, pour that into mixer bowl, and mix at low speed, initially, then increase to medium. Mix until combined. Once this is done, I'd go ahead and pipe borders around all of your cupcakes, so they have time to set while you make your caramel.

In a small saucepan combine whipping cream and bourbon. Heat over medium-low heat until steaming (NOT BOILING) Add caramels and 1/4 tsp sea salt. Mix constantly until melted and smooth. Spoon into centers of cupcakes, then garnish with sea salt.  

Sham-rockin' a Cupcake!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day I decided not only to do something with the word ‘shamrock’ in the title, I also wanted to make sure it had a little booze in it. I’ve had my eye on this recipe for a while, but never had an excuse to make it – until this week! These cupcakes were extremely moist, and the crème de menthe gave them a subtle hint if mint that really MADE the cupcake. The cupcake was topped with a white chocolate frosting, which was delicious, but very soft. If the weather had not been so unseasonably warm, it would have been easier to decorate with. Since we are experiencing higher than normal temperatures in Indiana, the frosting wasn’t pipe-able – thus, the excuse I have for a not so beautiful cupcake. Trust me, though….it was DELICIOUS!!

I got this recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens Cupcake magazine, but it is also on their website.

Shamrock Milkshake Cupcakes

For the batter:

4 egg whites

2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 c buttermilk

¼ c crème de menthe

½ c shortening

1 ¾ c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

For the frosting:

1 c butter, softened

6 oz white baking chocolate, shopped

1/3 c whipping cream

1 ½-2 c powdered sugar

Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prep your cupcake pans with liners. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. In another small bowl, or measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and crème de menthe. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat your shortening with a mixer for about 30 seconds. Slowly add sugar, vanilla, and then eggs . Add 1/3 of flour mixture, followed by buttermilk mixture. Repeat, ending with flour mixture. Make sure all is thoroughly combined.

Grab your trusty ice cream scoop and scoop batter into cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes for 15 minutes, or until tops bounce back when touched. Cool cupcakes in pan for 10 min, then remove to rack to cool completely.

While those cool, make your frosting. Chop up your white chocolate, and put it in your mixer bowl. Bring whipping cream to a simmer, then pour over chopped chocolate and let it sit for 5 min. Once the 5 min passes by, start stirring, until smooth (and all your chocolate has melted.) Let set for another 15 minutes. Gradually beat in butter on medium to high speed, until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency. (I added 2 ½ c of powdered sugar and it still never became stiff enough to pipe. Oh well)

Pipe or spread over your cupcakes and dig in!!

Is it St. Patrick's Day yet?

For Valentine's Day I avoided baking a red velvet cupcake for the blog, I guess in hopes of avoiding the cliche. To shake things up a little bit I put this recipe together. I was very pleased by the outcome. Not only are they an intense green color, they are deliciously moist & topped with a "just sweet enough" cream cheese frosting. 

Green Velvet Cupcake

For the batter:

2 1/2 c cake flour

2 c sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp cocoa - I used Valrhona

1 1/2 oz. green food coloring

1 c buttermilk, room temperature

1 c oil

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

For the frosting:

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla 

2-3 tbsp water

2 lbs powdered sugar

Turn your oven to 350 degrees, and prep your cupcake pans.

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in your mixer bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla together. With your mixer on low, slowly add milk mixture to your flour. Mix until thoroughly combined. In a small bowl, make a paste with the cocoa and food coloring. This will be thick. Flip your mixer back on, then add the green paste. Mix this in really well, then remove bowl from mixer. Put the soda in a little bowl, add vinegar, then prepare for a fun show! Your concoction will begin to bubble & foam like a science project volcano. Fold this to your batter, and make sure you combine it well.

Fill your cupcake liners about 3/4 full. This batter will be very thin, so be careful, or your kitchen will end up like mine, with little small drops of green all over the counter. Bake cupcakes at 350 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 335 degrees, and bake for another 5 minutes.

Cool cupcakes in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack. While these cool, go ahead and make your frosting.  

I'm not the world's biggest cream cheese frosting fan, but I wanted to come up with something that still tasted cream cheasy, but still had the texture of a buttercream. Here is what I did. 

Toss your cream cheese and butter into a mixer and whip for about a minute, or until nice and creamy. Add vanilla and about 1 tbsp water and combine. Now, slowly, start adding your confectioners sugar. If your mixer starts to sound exhausted, add some more water. I ended up using 2 1/2 tbsp. Mix to your desired consistency, then pipe or spread on your cupcakes. Even after I piped a huge pile of frosting on all of my cupcakes, I ended up having a bunch of frosting left over. 

Enjoy!!

Bacon Makes it Better

When word got out about this cupcake, the reaction was the same. "Wooooaaah! That sounds AMAZING! When will they be ready?" Needless to say, that added some pressure on me. "What if they don't turn out?" "What if they are gross?" Ugh....going into this one was nerve wracking - then I tasted the batter and realized that all my worries might have been for nothing. "If the batter is this good, surly the cupcakes will be deliciouso as well, right?"
I pulled a batch out of the oven and basically stared at them for 10 minutes while I waited for them to cool in the pan....then I took them out of the pan, and continued to stare at them until they were cool enough to eat. I took my first bite and seriously said out loud, "Oh my goodness....I can't BELIEVE that worked!!!" When you try these on your own, I believe you will find yourself saying the same thing!

Maple Bacon Cupcakes
adapted from Vanilla Garlic

For the batter:
1 stick + 1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tbsp bacon grease (left in fridge to become solid)
2 eggs
1/2 c + 2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 c good quality maple syrup (I used a dark amber syrup)
2 1/2 c self-rising flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3/4 c milk
3/4 c cooked bacon, cooled & diced

For the frosting:
1 stick of unsalted butter
5 tbsp maple syrup
3 c confectioners sugar

For the garnish (optional)
Turbinado sugar (or sugar in the raw)
Coarse grain sea salt
Pieces of bacon

Cook up bacon. I would recommend using a thick cut, and the best quality that is within your budget. I cooked up the entire package and had zero left over. (If your husband is at home, make sure you prep some extra, or you will run out before you get to the garnishing step)
Once bacon is cooked, pour grease into small dish and pop in the refrigerator. I would just put all of it in there. You may end up using more than 1 1/2 tbsp. Once it's cool enough, mince up your bacon, and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 365 degrees, and prep your cupcake pans. After grease has solidified, put that and room temperature butter in mixing bowl. Beat until creamy, then add your brown sugar & maple syrup. Once combined, add your eggs and mix well. Sift your dry ingredients together. Add 1/3 of your dry's to the butter/grease mixture. Add 1/2 of your milk. Repeat this, ending with dry's.

Check your flavor. If you want to add more syrup you may, but be cautious. First of all, the frosting is going to be really sweet. Second, maple syrup can break cake batter when too much is used. I think that if your batter has a slight maple flavor, you're good to go.

Fold in bacon (YAY!!!)  Using your trusty ice cream scoop, scoop batter into your cupcake liners. Fill up 1/2 way, as this batter will grow more than normal cupcake batter does.. Bake them at 365 degrees for 10 minutes. Rotate your pan, then bake for an additional 5-7 minutes. They are done with they bounce back when tops are touched (and when your toothpick comes out clean.) Let them cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack, and let them cool the rest of the way.

For the frosting, combine butter and maple syrup. Whip until creamy. Add your confectioners sugar, one cup at a time. Whip until it reaches your desired consistency. If it is too thick, add a few drops of water. If it is too thin, add some more confectioners sugar. This made barely enough frosting to coat all of my cupcakes. Depending on how you are planning on decorating, you may want to double the frosting recipe.

Pipe or spread onto your cupcake, then sprinkle with turbinado sugar & sea salt, if desired. Garnish with a piece of bacon from before....then....ENJOY!!

It's Fat Tuesday - Have a cupcake

Happy Mardi Gras! I may not be in New Orleans, but I am all about a good party. When I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to do a Mardi Gras themed cupcake he immediately said I had to make a King Cake cupcake. I did some research and found that a traditional King Cake is more pastry, than cake. Luckily, he has experienced a real King Cake while in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, so he was able to guide me in the necessary flavors.

This cupcake was prepared very similarly to a cinnamon roll. The dough came together like a cinnamon roll, but the additional flavors of nutmeg and lemon gave it a crazy twist....THEN instead of being topped with a normal cream cheese frosting, it is used as filling. Umm...YUM!

The finished product was topped with a basic powdered sugar glaze, then covered in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: Purple, representing Justice, Green, representing Faith & Gold, representing Power.

In New Orleans, many King Cakes are baked with a small trinket inside. This trinket is usually a small plastic baby, to represent Baby Jesus. The person who finds the baby in their piece is granted various privileges, or obligations for next year's party. Since the baby was not much smaller than the cupcake, I decided to not bake him inside.....as you can see, he's hanging out under a wine glass, surrounded by beads.

This was a more complicated cupcake, due to the usage of yeast (which always scares me) but it was all worth the extra effort.

Enjoy your Fat Tuesday, everyone. With the help of these cupcakes, I know I will!


KING cupCAKE

The Recipe
adapted from Confections of a Foodie Bride

For the dough
1 c water at 115 degrees
1/4 c sugar, divided
1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) dry active yeast
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp nutmeg
3 1/4 c flour, divided + extra for dusting work surface
1 tsp kosher salt
oil, for coating bowl

For Filling
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c + 2 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 rounded tsp cinnamon
Raisins (optional)
2 tbsp melted butter

For glaze
1 c confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp water
Decorating sugar - Purple, Green, & Yellow
Plastic baby (optional)

Pour 1 tbsp sugar and water into mixer bowl. Sprinkle yeast over top aand let stand for 10 minutes. If yeast gets puffy, you may continue. If your yeast does nothing, it may be dead and you may want to get some more. While your yeast is activating, lightly oil a large bowl and prep your muffin trays with cupcake liners.
Attach dough hook to mixer. Add melted butter, egg, egg yolk, remaining sugar, nutmeg, lemon zest, 3 c flour, and salt to bowl. Turn mixer on to low. Add only enough extra flour to bowl to allow dough to pull away from bowl, but still stay stuck to bottom. (I used almost the whole 1/4 cup) Your dough should be slightly sticky to the touch. Dump into oiled bowl. Cover and place in warm, dry place. Allow to double in size. It took my dough about an hour to double. While dough rises, prep your filling.

Put all filling ingredients, except for melted butter, in mixer bowl. Mix for 1-2 minutes, or until very smooth.

Dump dough onto lightly floured surface and kneed a few times. Starting from the center, push dough outwards, then stretch into an 18" x 12" rectangle. Brush melted butter all over flattened dough, sparing 1" at top. Leave that dry. Spread filling all over dough, except for that 1" at the top. If you want, sprinkle raisins across dough.

Starting with the long side of the dough, closest to you, roll upwards, jellyroll style, and pinch last inch of dough into roll. Place seam down on counter. Lightly tug on roll, in order to ensure entire thing is fairly even in diameter. Using a serrated knife, cut off ends, then begin to cut roll into 3/4" - 1" pieces. Do not make them any larger. If they are bigger than this, they will overflow your muffin pan. Transfer rounds into prepared cupcake pan and allow to rest while oven finishes preheating.

Bake for approximately 20 min, or until tops are a light gold brown. Do not overbake! They will be hard little King Cake rocks if you bake them too long. Remove pans from oven, and allow to cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks, and allow to cool completely.

To make your glaze, dump all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk until smooth. You want it to be a bit runny, so it will run down the tops of the cakes (and look pretty.) Spoon glaze over completely cooled cakes, then sprinkle all 3 colors on each cake.

Try to eat these the same day, or even the next day. If you let them sit to long, they won't be as pretty. Enjoy!

Isn't it romantic?

Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries - a perfect addition to Valentine's Day. I wanted to make something special, in honor of Valentine's Day, but I didn't want to give into the cliché Red Velvet cupcakes (at least for the blog...I made those for my family last week!) These caught my eye immediately, and I knew they would be perfect for the lover's holiday. I remember a few years ago I was surprised by my husband at my place of employment with a platter of chocolate covered strawberries that he had made all by himself. It was so sweet, and something I like to brag about to my friends. As for the champagne, I had never opened a bottle of the stuff by myself, until it was time to use it as a cupcake ingredients. I'm not going to lie....I sat there and stared at the cork for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do! Eventually I gave the little metal thingie a twist and ta-da! The cork flew off! It was exciting, too bad I was alone at the time. 

Anyway, these cupcake are a spongy change from the previous cupcakes. They are definitely an adult cake, due to their lack of overpowering sweetness, and the content of champagne.  What I noticed was not the immediate flavor of the champagne, but the aftertaste of it. It was quite nice just getting a small hint of that in the back of your throat. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Strawberries & Champagne Cupcakes:

The Recipe:
adapted from Annie's Eats

Chocolate covered strawberries

24-28 strawberries

4-5 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped

2-3 oz white chocolate, chopped

Batter:

2 1/4 cake flour, sifted

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

7 large egg whites

7 large egg yolks

1 1/2 c sugar

5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c champagne

Ganache

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 c + 1 tbsp heavy cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 8 piecee

Champagne syrup (optional)
To boost the champagne flavor, soak this into the cupcakes while they cool
3/4 c water
1 c sugar
1 c champagne

Directions:

Wash and rinse strawberries. Place on a paper towel to dry, while you prep your chocolate. Put the chopped semisweet chocolate in a bowl and microwave in 15 second increments, stirring after each time. Once completely smooth, dip strawberries in chocolate, one at a time, letting excess drip off. Place them on a tray lined with a sheet of wax paper or parchment, to let set. Next, melt white chocolate in same manner as semisweet. Once smooth, pour into a decorating bag, or a small plastic baggie. I used a baggie, because I wanted something small to work with. Snip off the corner, or tip of bag, then drizzle over your strawberries. Place them in refrigerator to allow to set entirely.

Set your oven to 350 degrees, and prep your cupcake trays. Combine dry ingredients, and set aside. Put egg whites in a clean, dry bowl, fitted with a whisk attachment. beat egg whites until foamy. Add 2 tbsp of sugar, and increase speed to medium high. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Remove mixer bowl and pour whipped whites into a separate bowl, and set aside. 

Wash and dry your mixer bowl and replace in mixer. Combine yolks, remaining sugar (1 c plus 6 tbsp), oil, and vanilla. Mix with paddle attachment until combined. Add half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add champagne, mix until combined, then add remaining dry ingredients.

Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of whites into batter. This is to lighten it up. Add remaining whites and fold in gently, being careful not to deflate batter. 

Fill your cupcake liners about 3/4 full, then bake for 14 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean,  and cupcakes are golden brown. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then cool on wire rack. While cupcakes cool, prepare your syrup, if desired. 

For syrup, bring water and sugar to rolling boil, whisking constantly. Boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat and add champagne. Use silicone basting brush to brush syrup over cupcakes. If desired, repeat the basting about 5 minutes later.

Remove your strawberries from the refrigerator, then prepare your ganache.  Put chopped chocolate in small glass bowl, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a boil, then pour over chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds, then whisk in small circles, starting in the middle of bowl, and working towards the outside. Add butter, one 1 piece at a time and continue to whisk until combined. 

Take your cooled cupcake and dip only the top into the ganache. Let excess drip off, then put back on cooling rack. Grab a chocolate covered strawberry and place on cupcake. After a few minutes the strawberry's chocolate will meld into the ganache and you are all set!!

Enjoy!

Have you ever been to Sonic®?

Well, I have. The most delicious item on the menu: Cherry Limeade. Seriously, it is delicious! When I stumbled upon this recipe I just KNEW that we had to give it a whirl.

What is so crazy, is that it totally has the tart limey taste that you would fine in limeade, but then the cherry's sweetness kicks in. Overall, it is a yummy cupcake, which is also REALLY pretty!

The Recipe:

adapted from Annie's Eats

Batter:

3 c cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1 c sugar

1/2 c + 2 Tbsp frozen limeade concentrate, unthawed

3 eggs

3/4 c whole milk

Lime syrup:

1/2 c limeade concentrate, unthawed

1/2 c confectioners sugar

Frosting:

4 c confectioners sugar

1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 c shortening

4 Tbsp maraschino cherry juice

1 tsp grenadine (optional)

Garnish (optional):

Lime slices

Maraschino cherries, with stems (because it's prettier)

Directions:

Prehead oven to 350 degrees, and prep your cupcake pan with paper liners. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together, then add limeade concentrate.
Now, after I added the limeade I got a little freaked out because it looked all curdled & weird. sorta like this:

Don't panic. It will all work out in the end.

After you add limeade, scrape down bowl, then add your eggs, one at a time, making sure that they are mixed in well. Scrape down your bowl again.

Add 1/3 of your flour mixture, and blend until just mixed in. Add 1/2 of your milk. Repeat this, ending with flour. Make sure that once flour is mixed in to turn off your mixer. Even though the batter is a bit lumpy, you don't want to over mix. Remove from mixer, then give it a stir with a spoon or spatula 2 or 3 times, mainly to check that all the flour has been distributed properly. Batter will look pancakey, kinda like this:

Grab your cupcake pans, and fill each cup about 2/3 full. I used my trusty ice cream scoop to ensure that they would come out approximately the same. 

Bake these puppies for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center. Let them sit in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove them onto a wire rack and cool completely. 

While they cool, prep your syrup. Easy peasy, whisk the confectioners sugar with the limeade until it's smooth. Once your cupcakes are almost completely cool, poke some holes in them, so when you brush your syrup over the top, it will also leak into the cupcake. I used a kabob skewer because it makes bigger holes. If you don't have one, just poke each cupcake a hundred times with a toothpick. (Had you had a kabob skewer you'd get away with poking it like 10 times)  About 10 min after I brushed the syrup over the cupcakes, I repeated the process. I wanted to make extra sure that they were limey enough.

Once the limeade syrup is brushed over the cakes, prepare your frosting. Put shortening and butter in a mixing bowl. Cream together, then add cherry juice. Slowly add confectioners sugar, 1 cup at a time. Once blended, check your consistency and flavor. I thought frosting lacked cherry flavor so I sent my husband to the store to pick up some grenadine. I added about 1 tsp, to give is an extra cherry boost. If you want to enhance the pink color, you can add a bit of food coloring to the frosting. Make sure that you are aware of the consistency of your frosting. If you add too much liquid it will be too runny.

Pipe frosting on cupcakes and garnish with a lime and cherry, if desired. If you are garnishing them immediately, I would suggest serving these the same day. I put some in the refrigerator and tried them the next day and the texture changed quite a bit. The cupcakes were wonderfully moist soon after completion, but after sitting in a refrigerator overnight, they became a bit too dry for my liking.

All in all, the cupcakes were great. They were light, unlike last week's super rich cupcake, and they helped satisfy my craving for my favorite Sonic beverage!

Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Love

 When it came to deciding which cupcake to make first, I sorta panicked. I needed the first one to be cool looking, yummy, & easy enough that I couldn't mess it up. I decided on a Brownie Buckeye Cupcake because it met all of the above mentioned criteria My only hesitation was the name. Isn't Ohio the Buckeye state? I'm totally not in Ohio.

Anyway, here is my finished product: The Brownie Buckeye Cupcake
aka chocolaty, peanut buttery goodness!

If I had to rate this recipe's difficulty level, it would be rated as easy. The cupcake itself is actually a boxed brownie mix (hey! don't judge....it tastes delicious) Also, the remainder of the ingredients are pretty common, and come together easily. If you're a beginner to the baking world, this one will be a snap. 

The Recipe: 

Batter:

16-18 miniature peanut butter cups

1 box Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix

3 large eggs

1/4 c water

1/2 c oil

Icing:

1/4 c unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 c creamy peanut butter

2 1/2 tbsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 c powdered sugar

Topping:

16-18 miniature peanut butter cups

Ganache:

1 c creamy peanut butter

1 c semisweet chocolate (I didn't have any, so I used chocolate chips, which worked just fine for me)

2 tbsp light corn syrup

1/2 c half & half

To begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prep your cupcake pans with your cupcake liners. Unwrap your peanut butter cups & set them aside.

Prepare brownie mix as if you are going to make cake-like brownies. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full, then stick 1 peanut butter cup in batter, upside down, then gently push down. Add just a smidge more batter to the top of the peanut butter cup, to barely cover it up.

Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. To check if they are done, insert a toothpick to the brownie. It's done if it comes out almost clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 min, then remove to a wire rack & cool completely

For frosting, cream butter & peanut butter together. Add vanilla & 2 tbsp of milk. Slowly add in powdered sugar, 1/2 a cup at a time. Mix together. Add remaining milk, to your desired consistency.

Fill a piping bag, and pipe frosting onto completely cooled cupcakes. I couldn't find my 1M tip, so I had to improvise - I cut a hole at the end of the piping bag & just started squeezing! I guess I'll be heading to my fav cake decorating supply store to get a new tip, huh? (YAY!) After you're all frosted, top frosting with a peanut butter cup.

Originally I was going to use bittersweet chocolate for the ganache, but then realized that I don't like bittersweet chocolate. I decided to use semisweet chocolate, but didn't have any in block form. Alas, there was a lonely looking bag of semisweet chocolate chips in the pantry, so I grabbed it, and head for the stove.

For ganache, put chocolate, peanut butter, & corn syrup in double boiler (or a glass bowl set over simmering water.) Whisk occasionally, until completely smooth. Remove from heat, and add half & half, beating until smooth. Drizzle over cupcakes while still warm.

Have fun with this one!! Next week: Cherry Limeade Cupcakes...mmmm!!!!

The kickoff

I've decided to do something crazy. I'm going to bake 52 different cupcakes over the course of a year. Eeeek! That sounds crazy, right? Well, after some amazing encouragement from my friends & family, I've decided to go for it. Why not? I mean...HELLO! Cupcakes are awesome.
To start off, I'm going to tell you a little about myself:

I am a wife: My husband's name is Wade & he is amazing
I am a mom: Kids are Audrey (9), Benny (5), & Adrian (5.5 months)
I am a babysitter: Mon - Fri I take care of Josie (6.5 months)
I work part time outside the home - I am a customer service rep @ a company that sells kitchenware...awesome!
I live in a small Indiana town: Ugh....now I have John Mellencamp going through my head
I have very few hobbies: Reading, cooking, & baking

Ok, that is me in a nutshell. Next week kicks off the cupcake challenge. First up: Brownie Buckeye Cupcakes. Just imagine....chocolate brownies....peanut butter....peanut butter CUPS and chocolate ganache. Sounds like a winner to me! It's coming soon....so be EXCITED! I know I am.