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Posts Tagged ‘Cupcake’

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on December 28, 2013| 14 Comments »

If you have never visited Bakerella’s site, please do so!  Her baked creations are absolutely beautiful and tasty as well.  Her artistic talent far exceeds mine, so usually I just browse her site for fun.  When I saw these cupcakes, I just knew I had to give them a try. 

They combine two of my favorite flavors (chocolate and peanut butter, of course) and they are pretty to look at, too.  Now I didn’t go quite as far as she did and put a homemade peanut butter cookie on top, but I did add a few peanut butter chips to the cupcake batter.

I didn’t get enough action shots for the recipes so this will be a text recipe only with some pretty finished shots thrown in.  Without further ado, I give you (drumroll, please): Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 cup milk

2/3 cup hot water

1 cup peanut butter chips

Frostings:

1 cup butter, room temperature

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

4 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

2 tbsp. milk

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For Cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cupcake pan with liners and set aside.  In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together.  Add the eggs, oil, vanilla and milk.  Mix together then add the hot water. Stir in the peanut butter chips. The batter will be thin. 

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for 15 minutes or until done.  Cool before frosting.

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Chocolate Frosting: Beat 1/2 cup butter until creamy.  Add 1 tsp. vanilla and mix.  Slowly add 2 cups of the confectioners sugar and cocoa.  Mix until combined.  Add 1 tbsp. of milk and mix until creamy and smooth. 

Peanut Butter Frosting: Beat 1/2 cup butter and 2/3 cup peanut butter until creamy.  Add 1 tsp. vanilla.  Slow add 2 cups confectioners sugar and mix until combined.  Add the remaining 1 tbsp. of milk and mix until smooth.

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Here comes the fun part!  Using a decorator or zip top bag fitted with a large decorating tip, add BOTH frostings to the same bag.  Try to keep them side by side in the bag and not completely mixed together.  Frost the cupcakes with a swirl and the two frosting will mix together in the swirl.  How cool is that?  They are almost too pretty to eat.  Almost, but not quite.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cupcakes

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Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling

Posted in Cooking, tagged , on June 11, 2011|

When I found this recipe, I thought it looked familiar and then I realized why.  If you have ever made a Twinkie cake, this frosting is very similar to the filling.  In fact, it may be the very same thing.  This is a great frosting for “beginning decorators” kind of like myself.  I can bake, but decorating cakes and cupcakes has never been my strong suit.  My skills are improving a little and I think having the right piping tips helps as well.  As you will see below, I listed the exact tips I used and the results I got.  I will tell you my favorite at the bottom.

I found this version of frosting/filling at Our Best Bites.  Their site is full of delicious looking food and other cute projects, so please check it out.

3 tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup real butter, room temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

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Whisk together the flour and milk.  Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken.  Let is cook, while stirring, until it looks like pudding.  You should be able to see the bottom of the pan when you stir it.  Push the thick mixture through a mesh strainer to smooth then cool completely to room temperature.  It has to be completely cooled to mix with the next ingredients.

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In an electric stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar for about 2 minutes until well combined and fluffy.  Add the thickened and cooled milk mixture and the vanilla.  Beat on the highest speed for 7 minutes.  Yep, that’s right, 7 whole minutes!  I know that sounds like a lot, but it takes that long for this frosting to come together.  If after 7 minutes, the texture is not right, keep beating it.  It will eventually combine for a smooth and creamy frosting.

Here are the different icing tips I used and the results from them.

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And here is one I messed up, so I just had to be the hero and get rid of it! Hee, hee!

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My favorite tip, by far, is the 2D which is the first one shown. My next favorite is the 1M, which is the last one shown.  The second one is ok, but I didn’t like the texture as well.  I love the ruffles that the first tip creates!

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Strawberry Cupcakes Part 2

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on June 4, 2011|

Back in 2009, not long after I started blogging, I published another post for Strawberry cupcakes here.  Those recipes were really good, but I wanted to see if these would be better.  I don’t know if they were better, but they were tasty.  This recipe uses a combination of strawberry preserves and chopped strawberries for an extra little flavor kick that I really liked.  Also, to make them look more “strawberry”, this recipe uses a tiny bit of red gel food coloring to tint them strawberry pink which is nice and pretty.  If you don’t want to use the coloring, just leave it out since it does not affect the taste at all.

To top these, I used “Perfect Cupcake Frosting & Filling” from Our Best Bites, which I will spotlight next week.  The cupcake recipe itself is from Yummy Cakes By Lynn.  You can check out her site right here.

2 tbsp strawberry jam or preserves

1/4 cup finely chopped strawberries

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 large egg white, room temperature

1/4 tsp vanilla

4 drops red food coloring

1/3 cup milk

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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and position a rack in the middle of the oven.

In a small bowl, stir together jam and chopped strawberries.  In a second bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

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Using a mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg whites, vanilla and food coloring and beat until combined.

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Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2, beating on low speed until just combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.  Fold in strawberry mixture until just combine.

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Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full. Bake for about 25 minutes, until centers bounce back when touched.  Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Check back next week for the frosting recipes and finished photos!

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