Lately I've been really into baking. I usually keep it in decent moderation, the sweet with the not sweet when it comes to the kitchen-- maybe it is the unseasonably cool weather, or the knowledge that summer must come sometime but before it did I was going to take advantage of the baking-friendly temperatures.
Pretty much every recipe I come across I feel the need to play with and alter in some way. This was no different. I discovered this post while browsing and instantly printed it off. Even in black and white it stood out and instantly took up residence in the forefront of my baking mind. Which is to say, it took me 2 months before I went for it. You may notice, if you follow the link, the recipe is for birthday CAKE (not cupcakes). Well, a cake isn't as easy to portably share, so, I took it another direction-- details below. I ended up increasing the sugar and cocoa on a whim-- but that made these too dry. Lesson learned.
Cocoa Buttermilk Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
adapted from from Baking: from my home to yours and Barefoot Contessa
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
7 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
Countless amounts of miniature peanut butter cups, smashed or cut up.
Peanut Butter frosting recipe follows
Directions:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a cupcake tin, set aside. I didn't want to do them all that way, so I did another pan with paper liners.
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, bak
ing powder, baking soda and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until it is thoroughly blended into the butter. Add the eggs one at a time, then the yolks one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk; add the dry ingredients in 3 portions and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients); mix only until each new batch is blended into the batter. Scrape down the bowl and fold in the melted chocolate, folding it in with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter in the muffin tin. Pour the rest in muffin tins with paper cups
Bake until the cakes feel springy to the touch. Transfer the cupcakes to racks and cool to room temperature.
To Create the Cupcake-Cakes: Use a serrated knife to cut the cooled cupcake as you would a hamburger bun. Spread some frosting on one half and sandwich, then add frosting to the top and sprinkle the smashed up peanut butter cups. *Note: I tried it 2 methods, one piping and one smearing on for the messy look and found I favored the smashed up PB cup-messy icing combo. No matter how you do it, they are delicious.
Peanut butter frosting:
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa
Ingredients:
~2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream
Directions:
Place the confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.
**Halfway through icing them, I decided the frosting was overkill on the PB and added more cream-- bad idea. You get too much of that going and it doesn't incorporate well because the PB is so intense.
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