Chocolate Peanut Butter Awesomeness

For those of you who don't know, I'm a little crazy about cupcakes. I've been trying out new creations and sharing them with the masses (well, everyone at work and church anyway) for years now. I'm not some 'johnny-come-lately' trying to jump on the cupcake bandwagon - I've been obsessed for a while now. Why? Because they are the perfect canvas to allow my creativity to run wild. It's so easy to play with different flavor combinations without facing the daunting task of decorating an entire cake. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake  Try not to lick your screen. :)

The recipe I'm sharing with you tonight is a special one. It's my very first brain child.  The experimenting began about 3 years ago, and I daresay this cupcake has made it's way to perfection. Really, this is one of those recipes that needs introduction, so I'll stop trying and just give it to you. :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cake

Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge cake mix

1 ¼ cups water

½ TB Folger’s instant coffee

½ cup oil

3 eggs

PB Filling

½ stick butter, softened

¾ cup Peter Pan Peanut Butter (Do NOT try to use a natural pb – I’ve tried it and it was a mess! Just trust me on this one.) ;)

6 oz powdered sugar

2-4 TB milk

Frosting

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup shortening

2 lb powdered sugar

1 cup Hershey’s Dark Cocoa

¼ ts cinnamon

1 TB vanilla

3-6 TB milk

Decoration

King Size bag Mini Reese’s Cups

Directions:

Cake

Combine the instant coffee and the water. Prepare according to package directions for cupcakes. 

Filling

Beat butter for about 30 seconds until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix until well blended. Slowly add in powdered sugar. If it starts to look particulary dry, just turn up the speed and let it run for a minute. Add milk one tablespoon at a time. When you first add the milk, it will probably seem very gloppy, keep on mixing and it should smooth out. You’ve reached the right consistency when the filling feels springy, but you can leave a finger imprint.

Frosting

 Beat butter for about 30 seconds until smooth. Add the shortening and beat for another 30 seconds. Sift together sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon. Slowly add sugar mixture to the butter mixture. . It may start to look dry and crumbly, but just keep going. Add the vanilla. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.(Frosting should have a bit of a wiggle, but still hold a spatula upright.)

Assembly*

Apple corer

10 in piping bag with an open tip – filled with peanut butter mixture

18 in piping bag no tip – filled with chocolate frosting

*None of these items are really necessary. You can always use a knife and freezer bags with the ends snipped. I mean, let’s face it – you’ve made it this far. Is there really anything that’s gonna keep you from devouring these things?

Use an apple corer to remove the center of the cupcakes.

Fill with peanut butter mixture.

If your frosting is too thick, don't be afraid to put it back in the mixer and add some more milk. To be honest, I probably should have done that with this batch. 

TADA!! The finished product.

A couple of notes…

     1)Sometimes I list a specific brand of an ingredient. That’s because I have developed the recipe with this particular item and using another brand in this case could produce different results. If you have something else on hand, or are devoted to another brand, feel free to use it, just realize the end product may be slightly different. 

   2)This recipe can produce a lot of dirty dishes. I promise you, clean up is SOOOO much easier if you do it after each component (cake, filling, frosting).

3) I can't believe I almost forgot! Whatcha gonna do with all those centers you cut you? You'll probably have some filling and frosting leftover so go ahead and layer them up in a bowl for a bonus treat. I've often thought of just making the whole thing this way!

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So there you have it. I hope you'll try this recipe out and give me your feedback! 

In the mean time...what flavor combination do you think would made the perfect cupcake?