My cupcakes bring all the peeps to the yard.

Sweet Heaven

Awhile ago our beloved Subaru Outback broke down, we took it into wal-mart because we thought it was the battery and that was part of the problem but, it turned out that there was more to it. A belt had broken and in turn caused something else to bust as well, the guy who hooked up our battery said he could fix our beloved vehicle friend for a measly 30 bucks if we could find the parts. So, the hubby set out to search for the parts but, by the time he found them the mechanic dude had gone home and Hubby had forgotten to get his contact info. 

Hubby drove our poor baby home and parked it next to the curb, and there it sat for the better part of 2 months until a friend of ours offered up her Hubby's mechanical genius for us to use. We accepted.

I served their kiddies dinner as the two manly men went out to fix the Subaru and while chatting with my gal pal I told her that I would have to repay them some way, so I decided that Cupcakes would be the best currency in this situation (mostly because her Husband can't gain weight and I had been dying to bake up some cupcakes) she mentioned that his favorite flavor combination was Peanut Butter and Chocolate and that it would be nice of me to bake those for him because she doesn't like it and that way she wouldn't eat them. I agreed.

I named them Sweet Heaven because in my Heaven there will always be peanut butter and chocolate getting together making a sticky mess of awesomeness.

So, I set about creating my PB&C Cupcakes.

The Cake:

• 1 Box Dark Chocolate Cake mix
• 5 eggs
• 1 Cup whole milk
• 2/3  Cup melted butter
• 1 TBLS of Peanut Butter per Cupcake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, be sure the oven is well preheated before putting the muffin tin in, you want a nice blast of heat to hit them because that will help them rise. Prepare a conventional sized muffing tin with paper liners and spray with a non-stick spray or, using a pastry brush, lightly coat with melted butter or shorting. Add all the ingredients together, except for the peanut butter, and mix according to package directions.

Once the batter is ready pour about 1/3 cup of batter into each well and then add a table spoon of peanut butter to the center of each cupcake before baking

 Pop the tin into the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes (don't open the oven to check on them until at least 18 minutes have gone by or you could cause them to fall flat, I know this is hard to do and I almost always open the oven to early and I often have flat cupcakes.)

While the cakes are cooking mix up your frosting

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting:

• 1 small jar of vanilla frosting (the kind for icing cupcakes)
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1/3 cup of dark chocolate fudge ice cream topping (room temp or colder) 
• 1 bag of bite sized Reese's peanut butter cups

Empty the frosting in to a medium sized mixing bow, add the peanut butter and fudge topping to the bowl and then using an electric beater (I borrowed one from a friend) beat the frosting until it's all combined and fluffy.

Once the cupcakes are done (when you lightly tap the top of the cake it should bounce right back into place and be firm) Take them out of the tin and a allow them to cool completely. If your forgot to make your frosting while the were baking you can make it now while the cakes are cooling.

 Once the cakes are fully cooled it's time to work the magic ;) Fill a disposable pastry bag with the frosting and snip the tip off of the bag, you don't need a pastry tip for this but if you want to use one I recommend Wilton's tip #1M it's nice and large which will make frosting the cupcakes easier. Pipe the frosting in a swirl motion starting from the outside of the top of the cupcake and working your way to the center and then up a little forming a peak of frosting. 

Once the cakes are frosted top them a the peak with 1/2 of a bite sized peanut butter cup.

These were still still a little lack luster so, I filled a couple of zip top sandwich bags with peanut butter and fudge topping and put them in a cup and microwaved them for like 10-15 seconds or just until the toppings are nice and melty. I sniped a very small opening in one of the corners and then pipped the toppings onto the cupcakes and then they were AMAZING!

Oh, baby...

That's nice.

JUST SIMPLY AWESOME!

 


















































May your tummy's always be full and your dreams be sweet.

P.S.
What are your favorite flavor combinations?