I made those.
Not the prettiest cupcakes ever, but I am pretty sure I had a
mouthgasm.
No really. Not like a metaphorical one, like how I used to reference the Ultimate Burger from Dairy Queen as an "orgasm in a box." I actually had the neurological response of an orgasm in response to these cupcakes. They were that good.
I got inspired by Bake it in a Cake to create cupcakes with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures in the center. Megan put them in banana cupcakes, but I think there is an obvious argument for devil's food here. That's what I went with along with the peanut butter buttercream frosting she put on a brownie with a Take 5 bar inside.
This was a somewhat massive undertaking relative to the total lack of baking I've been doing lately so I actually got everything ready before I started. I'm sure my dad would be proud if he actually read blogs and knew that. I only have one cupcake/muffin pan so I busted out the mini-bundt pan we got as a present (Thanks Jamie!). I even opened all those little Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures in advance.
I did not however finish cleaning up dinner before I started hence the Crock Pot on the counter.
I mixed up devil's food cake batter from a box and followed the general Bake it in a Cake process (a heaping tablespoon of batter, whatever is going in the center, and another heaping tablespoon of batter on top. The whole process took maybe ten minutes.
Did you notice anything wrong with those miniatures I opened?
There were 25.
and there are only 24 cupcakes in two pans. This little guy got left behind. I felt bad for him, all alone on the plate after everyone else landed a spot inside a cupcake. He's still there. It's almost tragic.
I figured I must have used a bit more batter than I should have because I used just about every last smear of batter and ran out with three mini-bundts left half done.
Baking confirmed my suspicions. They were a tad overfull. Result: cupcakes with muffin tops. Not so bad really.
I debated between using the Bake it in a Cake peanut butter buttercream recipe and the one from my Betty Crocker cookbook.
The proportions were totally different, but I decided to give Megan's a try and I could not be happier. I usually think buttercream tastes a little too much like powdered sugar. This doesn't. It's perfect. It's basically one part butter, one part peanut butter and two parts powdered sugar with a teaspoon of vanilla.
Conclusion:
The perfect peanut butter buttercream frosting recipe for 24 cupcakes is
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar.
I cut one open. It's almost required when something awesome is in the center of a cupcake and you can't see it any other way. The peanut butter cup was a little low in that one (it was dead center in the one I ate), but I wasn't willing to cut another just to get a better picture.
Best. Cupcakes. Ever.
oh my gosh these look soo good! how do you get the frosting to look so pretty? we're making our once a year red velvet cake tomorrow - yah!
ReplyDeleteThe secret is a decorator bag (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?sku=pg_featherweightbags). I think I got mine at Hobby Lobby, but I think they sell them at Wal-Mart too. I just use it without a tip for cupcakes. It makes it way easier than a knife in my opinion. I get a little messy because I always put too much frosting in them, but the cupcakes take like no time to frost and even when you're out of practice they look fancy. Tip: there is an optimal speed. Once you get that down you can make rockstar looking ones.
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