Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter “Cookie” Frosting
Yes, I am well behind on updating this!! I missed the Olympics, the space shuttle Atlantis, and I think the end of the NBA finals. But… better late than never! (Is there an echo in here?)
I made these in the beginning of August for Lindsay’s birthday, since her kryptonite is all combinations of chocolate and peanut butter. I found the inspiration and recipe for these on Annie’s Eats and loved the look of these. I’d only ever used a spatula or frosting bag on my cupcakes, so I was pretty excited to try making the frosting “patties” – something a little different!
Instead of using my usual chocolate cupcake recipe, I decided to go with the one from Annie’s Eats. The fact that it called for hot coffee interested me, as I’d never made chocolate cake with it. Sour cream, sure. Guinness, sure. But never coffee. I used a little over half the coffee I bought and ended up throwing the rest… down my throat. No sense in wasting, right?
The cupcakes turned out a bit flat – maybe I over mixed the batter? Whatever – I’m blaming it on the coffee! Ugh, if only I could Anderson Silva my baked goods, and just win at it whenever I feel like it…
Okay, I admit that was a far stretch, and I’m pretty sure 80% of my 5 readers will have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. But if anyone saw the Bonnar/Silva fight last night (and really, ANY Silva fight), you’ll know what I’m talking about. Spider knows.
Any way, to make the frosting patty stick to the cupcake (and for a little extra chocolate-y oomph), I made a standard ganache to use as “glue”.
The frosting recipe was really thick, so that it would A) not melt and B) form cookie-like patties. I really had to be diligent about wiping my hands in between forming every other patty, as the frosting stuck to my hands and would then start sticking to the patties. You can sorta tell which were made with freshly wiped hands and which weren’t…
Overall, these cupcakes were a little too rich for my taste, especially with the ganache. However, I tend to veer towards those with lighter, fluffier frosting, and even then I usually end up scraping half or more of it off.
As long as the birthday girl was happy, that’s all I cared about!! Miss you, Lindsay!!
Off to bed in a hurry. Until next time!
