Alicia's Birthday, holla!

You know you want some.
Trust me, it was BETTER than it looks.

Our friends Leila and Ronald left Wednesday, and Alicia's birthday was Thursday, but I was in need of a day of R&R after being up all night Monday, then out late Tuesday. So I made the cake a day late and determined we'd make do eating cake @ the office a day late.


After much deliberation the description I received from Alicia of her preference was chocolate cake with lemon and raspberry; she left the details up to me.


I went for the same dense chocolate cake I made for Tom, hoping to make it shine a little more without all that moussey-ganacheness overpowering it. The first one sunk (I think the bottom of the springform is too thick. It's heavy and perhaps next time I 'll let it cook longer) a little in the middle, so splitting it horizontally to make 2 layers was out. SOOO, while the Black Raspberry Muffins were baking (I don't know how to do just one thing) D & I rode our bikes superfast to the store for brown sugar so I could make a second layer.

Oddly, the first thing I did was make a lemon glaze which contained















Approximately

1 lemon's juice
3/4 tsp lemon zest
enough water to cover the bottom of the pan
approx 1/2 cup sugar

This acted as a crumb coating, and also slipped in that lemon Alicia was after--- in retrospect I would add more than the conservative amount I did, as, in the grand scheme of things, the lemon played such a minor part you scarcely noticed its existence.


Black Raspberry Buttercream Frosting

150g butter, softened
2-3 cups icing sugar
1 cup frozen black raspberries, thawed and mashed
1/4 cup milk
Optional-- Raspberry Liquor (i.e. Chambord)

1. Cream the butter. Add the icing sugar and raspberries and beat well. Add liquor if desired. For less seeds, strain part or all of the raspberries before adding them. If you find you need more liquid in the frosting, add milk gradually until it reaches the consistency you're after.

Assembly
Cut cakes horizontally so they're even, lay one on your serving dish or cake round, pour part of lemon syrup on and spread around until it soaks in. Slather frosting, especially on the edges so it sticks out. Add top part of cake and pile the frosting on, cake decorator style. When you have it close to what you're going for, dip a knife in water and carefully smooth the top and sides, repeatedly dipping until the entire cake is complete.

Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday Cake Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

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.