So a few weeks ago, some girlfriends and I went on a little spa weekend getaway and had a BLAST! Definitely a trip that was TOO short, but we had a chance to get massages at the spa, go to a nice dinner, and have lots of laughs... nothing like having a group of girls who can laugh, laugh, and laugh together :) I *heart* them.....
Anyways, on our way home, we made a little stop to "Sprinkle's" for some cupcakes. I got 6 cupcakes in a few different flavors, red velvet, lemon, marshmallow (YUM), and peanut butter (more YUM)!
A couple of them didn't make it too long, as you can tell! They were delicious of course, but now here I am a couple of weeks later and totally craving the flavors! So what else could I do, but whip up a batch myself right? I really wanted to make a knock off marshmallow batch, but it was late last night before I started baking and didn't have any marshmallow fluff to use in the center of the cupcake... those will have to wait until another time! I did have what I needed for some peanut butter ones though.
Loved how they came out, not too sweet, chocolate-y, peanut butter-y, super moist, and fluffy! I contemplated putting peanut butter in the cupcake batter, but kind of forgot lol. I'm thinking that maybe it's better off since it might have made them too peanut-y? Maybe next time :) Ok here is the recipe!
To make approximately 14-16 cupcakes
YOU WILL NEED: (for cake)
- 4 oz's semi sweet baking bar (chopped into small pieces to melt)
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 vegetable/canola oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp GOOD vanilla extract
(for ganache)
- 4 oz's semisweet chocolate chips
-1/4 cup heavy cream
(for frosting)
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla
- dash of salt
OPTIONAL: Chocolate Sprinkle's
DIRECTIONS (from Nestle):
Bake cupcakes!!! Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease or line cupcake pans. I got exactly 15 cupcakes filling 3/4 full :)
1. Microwave the chocolate pieces in a small bowl in 30 second increments. Stir after each increment until smooth. You will probably need to do 3-4 rounds. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. In another small bowl or large measuring cup, combine dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until combined.
3. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine buttermilk and water.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla until well combined and silky smooth. Beat in melted chocolate. Alternately add the dry ingredients with the buttermilk mixture. Spoon 3/4 full into prepared cupcake pans. And bake for 17-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool completely!!!!
In the meantime, go ahead and make your frosting.... YUM :)
1. Place a small saucepan over a low/medium heat. Add flour to pan and slowly stir in milk. Cook over low heat until very thick. Now, I don't know how necessary this is, but mine came out a bit lumpy so I thought it wouldn't hurt to run the mixture through a sieve.
Cover with some plastic wrap, right on the top/skin so that a film doesn't form. Let cool COMPLETELY to room temperature.
2. Place into the bowl of your mixer once cooled. Add sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt to a bowl for mixing. Beat on high speed until fluffy and very well combined. Sugar should be completely dissolved! Mixture is fairly thin compared to say a buttercream frosting... should resemble a nice whipped cream consistency, but light and fluffy! You won't be able to resist taking a big spoonful of this stuff! Oh its good :) Put frosting in the fridge to set up a bit before you start frosting!
Once the cupcakes have cooled, begin making your ganache. Add chocolate chips and heavy cream to either a double boiler OR if you are lazy like I was today... throw them into a bowl and put that bad boy into the microwave! Just be careful to not burn it! Place on HIGH for 30 seconds, stir, and then place in microwave again for another 30 seconds. If any more chips remain or it looks a bit lumpy, add another 15 seconds and stir.
3. Go ahead and dip the tops of your cupcakes into the ganache.
Flip it over gently and then place back in cupcake tin/holder.
You could totally stop here and eat away, I know I could :)
OK kids, you need to wait a few minutes just to let the ganache cool and harden up a bit! I think I did my dishes and cleaned up some... maybe 10 minutes or so was all I could take! Get the frosting and cupcakes back out and start frosting them!
I didn't do anything fancy with frosting since I was going to go a step further and add some sprinkles to the top... in honor of "Sprinkle's"! The peanut butter cupcake I had from there was a bit different though. It had a peanut butter cupcake with chocolate chips inside and then a really thick layer of peanut butter slathered right on top, then topped with a TON of sprinkle's! I thought the sprinkle's would work on these too :)
Eat it... eat it now... you know you want to! I have had 3 already today and thats not normally like me :)
When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it. That is the secret to success.
Posted by: discount coach | July 05, 2010 at 08:29 PM