Peanut Butter Cupcakes w/ Chocolate Ganache Frosting

Tonight we celebrate the birthdays of my nephew Milo and my sister-in-law, Midge. My mother-in-law asked for the classic chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream, but my wonderful husband knew I'd been obsessing over a peanut butter cupcake recipe I found online, and asked his sister if Milo likes chocolate & peanut butter, and she gave the thumbs up.

Intellectually, I feel like cupcakes are a bit overexposed, but I also recognize there's a reason they're so popular. Self-contained, infinitely adaptable, and simultaneously elegant and a comfort food, it's unlikely any other dessert will surpass them in popularity. I finally came to terms with this love-hate relationship with cupcakes and started TiVo'ing Food Network's Cupcake Wars (which I'd been watching whenever I found it on anyway). One thing I noticed was that the contestants who succeeded on the show always went beyond simple cake and frosting, adding fillings, drizzles, and edible decorations on top. That inspiration led me to this Peanut Butter cupcake with Peanut Butter filling, chocolate ganache and a white chocolate monogram on top.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line two cupcake pans (24 cupcakes) with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt, and whisk together to evenly distribute all ingredients. In your stand mixer, mix together the brown sugar, shortening and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter alternately with the milk (a little flour, a little milk, a little flour, a little milk, etc.). Spoon into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top of the cupcakes spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cooled, use a small pair of tongs to pull a small chunk of the cupcake from the center, making space for the filling.

(From AllRecipes.com)



Peanut Butter Filling
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbspn unsalted butter
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl, beat the peanut butter with the butter until creamy. Sift the confectioners' sugar into the bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spoon the peanut butter filling into a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. Gently squeeze the pastry bag to fill each cupcake.

(From Food & Wine Magazine)



Chocolate Ganache Frosting
16 oz bittersweet chocolate
16 oz heavy cream

Put chocolate in a medium mixing bowl and set on a trivet. Place cream in a heavy saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil, then pour over chocolate. Allow to sit 5 minutes, then whisk until fully combined. Place bowl on an ice pack to speed cooling, and allow to cool for several hours, until thickened to a frosting consistency.

Spoon ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe onto cupcakes.



White Chocolate Letters
3 oz white chocolate
Gel food coloring

Chop white chocolate finely and place in a small glass bowl. Add several drops of gel food coloring. Place bowl in the microwave and heat on high for 20 seconds, then 10 more seconds at a time until you are able to stir together. The chocolate will be melted before it appears melted, so check with a spoon before heating further. Stir until fully combined. Spoon into a small pastry bag with a very fine tip. Pipe letters onto a smooth silicone baking mat placed on an overturned baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator. When firm, carefully peel from mat and place on cupcakes.



The cupcakes were well received, with my brother-in-law going for a second and my mother in law saying they looked professional - both high praise. I did, unfortunately, overcook some of the cupcakes, with some being a little burned on the bottom. When I checked them at 20 minutes, they seemed very soft on top, so I gave them 3 extra minutes - which was too much for some of them. I also failed to taste the filling before piping it into the cupcakes, and it wasn't as transformed as I'd hoped. I would definitely make these again, but would fill the cupcakes a little less, and cut back on the peanut butter and increase the sugar and butter in the filling to make it smoother and sweeter.

Birthday Treats from Trophy & Full Tilt

In addition to meeting me for lunch yesterday, and taking me out to Joy Palace tonight, Dan zipped around town this afternoon and picked up some special birthday treats for us at Trophy Cupcakes and Full Tilt Ice Cream.



The selection of cupcakes included a chocolate coconut macaroon, pineapple upside down cake...



And chocolate salted caramel (though we only indulged in one tonight).



What's birthday cake with no ice cream? Dan had that covered with two types of ice cream he picked up at Full Tilt in Columbia City.



The Huckleberry he brought home was tempting, but Sweet Potato with marshmallow and pecans won out. It was so incredibly good, like everything I've had from Full Tilt. Full of flavor but not overly sweet, so the pops of candied walnut and marshmallow were all the more satisfying.

Trophy Cupcakes

On Friday, I acted fast enough to be one of the lucky folks who scored a Groupon for one dozen Trophy Cupcakes. Of the cupcakes I've tasted around town, Trophy remain my favorite - though perhaps the fact that they provided the cupcakes for our engagement party, and were really, really nice to work with has something to do with that preference. But regardless, they make a delicious, moist cupcake.



Today we were headed to Ballard to a housewarming for a good friend of ours, and decided to cash in our coupon and bring the cupcakes to the party.

We stopped at the Trophy location in Wallingford Center, and had them box up a mixed dozen - which was perfect, as they had 11 different flavors available today (excluding the higher price point specialty cupcakes, like S'mores, Tiger Tails and Margarita).



The mix included Vanilla Chocolate, Triple Chocolate, Chocolate Vanilla, Red Velvet, Vanilla, Chocolate Chip Mint, Lemon Coconut, Hummingbird (banana cake w/ pineapple frosting), Snowball (chocolate cake with coconut) and Macaroon.



Folks at the party seemed to enjoy the cupcakes (Dan & I included), though I was most fascinated with how our 8yo friend Otis ate his. He slowly licked the frosting, getting plenty on his face in the process, and barely nibbling the cake at all. Then, once the frosting was all gone, he tried to pawn the naked cake off on his Mom. Given that the most common adult complaint about cupcakes is that they have too much frosting and are too sweet, and that kids seem to focus their efforts on the frosting, maybe I should start a business selling frostingless cupcakes and tubes of frosting separately. Then Otis could just squeeze a frosting tube into his mouth.

Great Food Deals today

Living Social and Groupon had two deals too good to pass up today, so I went for both:

$75 for a $150 gift card to Herbfarm in Woodinville, towards their 9-course tasting menu (which runs $179-195 per person). Limit one per couple, but two couples can use two gift cards.

$15 for One Dozen Trophy Cupcakes (a $33 value). These are, in my opinion, the best cupcakes in town.

Denise's Easter Birthday

This afternoon, we celebrated Easter and my sister's birthday at my parent's place with a great dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes, and asparagus in hollandaise - shared with my Aunt Mary & Uncle Rod, Cousins Nick & Renee, Renee's husband Mike, and their two kids Ava & Ashton. It was great to see them after so many years (over a decade, I think!) and fun to share memories and catch up over a excellent meal.



I contributed dessert, and after talking with my sister the other day, decided on a chocolate angel food cake. Problem was, I don't own an angel food cake pan (yet). Unlike other cakes, angel food really requires a specific pan to be successful. After reading over some recipes and understanding a bit of the science, I decided I would try making a cupcake version of the recipe in Baking for All Occasions.



A standard angel food cake pan has a pipe up the center, smooth walls, and prongs off the top. The center pipe allows the batter to climb up the sides and become even fluffier, the prongs allow the cake to be cooled upside down, and the smooth walls help you get the cake out once cooled (since you can't grease the pan, as that would cause it to fall out when cooling upside down).



I decided that the small size of cupcakes would eliminate the need for the center pipe, the smooth angled walls would make getting them out fairly easy, and I could figure out some way to prop them up to cool them. Since you use over a dozen eggs for this recipe, the leftover egg carts became the perfect solution - giving me four little stands to put under the inverted cupcake tins.

I topped these with whipped cream and decorated some with either strawberries, Cadbury chocolate eggs, or chocolate mousse peeps.



Chocolate Angel Food Cupcakes
2 cups egg whites (from about 14-16 eggs)
100g unsweetened cocoa powder
65g cake flour
200g + 250g sugar (divided)
1/4 tspn salt
1 1/2 tspn cream of tartar
1 1/2 tspn vanilla extract

While they're cold, separate eggs until you have 2 cups, then let them sit out for 1 hour. Adjust your oven racks for two cupcake pans and preheat to 325 degrees F. Wash two cupcake pans in hot water and set aside. DO NOT line the pan with cupcake liners. Prepare an area for the cupcakes to cool in the pans - upside down. I recommend cutting up your egg carton to create four stands that can suspend the pans above the counter. By cooling them upside down, the cake will remain light & fluffy, not collapse and become dense and chewy.



Measure all ingredients. Sift together cocoa, flour, 200g sugar and salt in a bowl, and set aside. Add the eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Begin whisking on medium speed until the egg whites become foamy. Then add cream of tartar and increase the speed by one notch - whipping until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 250g sugar, a spoonful at a time, and whip until soft, but droopy peaks form. Add vanilla and whisk just to combine. Under whipping is preferable to over whipping. Shake 1/3 of the cocoa flour mixture over the top of the egg whites, and fold in gently just until combined, then repeat twice to incorporate all the cocoa.



Divide batter between the cupcake pans, and place in the oven for 20 minutes - until the tops are no longer glossy and bounce back if pressed. Remove and set upside down on the egg carton stands, and let cool for 2-3 hours.



Using a sharp, clean knife, cut around each cupcake to release it from the pan. It can be helpful to have a glass of warm water and a washcloth handy, to keep the knife clean and slightly wet.

Full Tilt and El Sombrero

After sleeping in a bit this morning, Dan & I headed up to Cleveland High School to catch one of our nephew's lacrosse games. They were up from Lake Tapps to play against some Seattle teams, and did an outstanding job. I was really impressed by the level of play - great strategy and excellent passing - and it was fun to learn more about a sport I knew almost nothing about (other than what I learned watching the new 90210).



Afterwards, we headed to Full Tilt Ice Cream in Columbia City to help our friends Julie and Kynan celebrate the 4th birthday of their daughter, Rowan.



If you haven't had the chance to check out any of Full Tilt's 3 locations (they also have shops in White Center and the U-District), I highly recommend it. In addition to a selection of house-made ice creams ranging from the exotic (ube and Mexican chocolate) to the expected (vanilla), they also have pinball and old-school video games, like Ms. Pac Man, Pole Position, and Q-Bert. I indulged in a hazelnut cake cone and played some Galaga, while Dan opted for ube and Pole Position.



It was great fun to spend time with Julie & Kynan - and the birthday girl, of course - who was smiling ear to ear, bouncing around, and clearly enjoying her special day. Having only nephews, it was fun to experience a girly birthday party - with unicorn playmobile, princess costumes and pink cupcakes being the order of the day. I was particularly taken aback at the care and time she spent opening gifts.



After the party, Dan & I headed down the street to El Sombrero for some dinner.



We started off with Mango margaritas. We'd never tried the flavored margaritas at El Sombrero before, but after delicious guava and lilikoi margaritas while in Hawaii, something fruity and tropical sounded great. Dan's not a fan of blended drinks (generally), so we were happy to learn we could have them on the rocks.



After treats at the birthday party, our appetites weren't voracious - and we've learned our lesson from all our previous visits to El Sombrero that the servings are significant and you either need to be hungry or have the self control to save about half your meal as leftovers.



So our approach was to order one platter to share - Carnitas Y Camerones. It was perfect, given the variety and size, and more than enough for us both along with chips, salsa and margaritas.

Don's 79th and Blake's 10th

We headed down to Lake Tapps tonight to celebrate the birthday's of my father-in-law, Don, and our nephew, Blake. We had a delicious lasagna dinner, followed by tasty 2-bite brownies, rich chocolate cupcakes and ice cream for dessert. Jennifer baked up a storm, and set the cupcakes in adorable little Valentine's wrappers.

Holiday Baking, Non-Baking, and Candy Making

Dan & I have been doing some holiday baking and candy making (and I guess, non-baking, in the case of rum balls). The first three started with recipes found online or in cookbooks, but we adapted them a bit (adding the passionfruit topping, candied ginger frosting, and turning homemade marshmallows into s'mores candies, respectively). The rum balls recipe is something Dan found after we wondered out loud whether you could use gingersnaps to make rum balls (you can!), the pineapple bars were something Dan made while I was at work, to surprise me, and the last recipe was given to me by my mother, passed down from my grandfather (her father), who made his special peanut brittle every year for the holidays.

And to Anna & Jason - what a crazy coincidence that we both made homemade marshmallows this holiday season! S'mores were clearly on the collective conscious' brain. We're saving the beautiful ones you gave us (along with the homemade graham crackers you made - WOW!) to make proper s'mores with our newly working fireplace. Thank you so much for the wonderful surprise!



Passionfruit Cheesecake Bar Cookies
9 squares of graham crackers
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tbspn lemon juice
1 cup passionfruit juice
1 Tbspn cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place crackers, flour, walnuts and 1/4 cup sugar in food processor and pulse until crackers and nuts are finely ground. Move to a bowl and add melted butter, mixing until crumbly and well combined. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x9x2 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Blend cream cheese and sugar. Add egg and lemon juice. Mix well. Pour over baked layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes more. Cool completely. Combine passionfruit juice and cornstarch in a saucepan and whisk well to combine. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, whisking often. When the mixture thickens and becomes transluscent, remove from heat and allow to cool partially. Pour over the top of the cooled cheesecake and place in refridgerator. Cut into squares. Store in fridge.



Homemade S'mores Candies
1 cup cold water
3 Tbspn unflavored gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tspn salt
2 Tbspn vanilla
Cornstarch
Confectioner's sugar
12 oz chocolate chips (semi- or bittersweet)
1 Tbspn butter
1 cup finely crushed graham cracker crumbs

Pour 1/2 cup cold water into the bowl of your mixer. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over the water and allow to sit for 45-60 minutes. In a large saucepan, combine remaining 1/2 up cold water, sugar, syrup and salt. Heat over high heat and allow mixture to come to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until it reaches 240 degrees F. Do not allow to go past 244. Remove from heat and slowly beat into the dissolved gelatin at low speed. Once the hot mixture is incorporated, increase the mixer speed to high and continue beating until the mixture is very thick and white but still warm - about 15 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Generously dust a 9x13 inch baking pan with cornstarch. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Dust with confectioner's sugar liberally. Let the marshmallow's stand, uncovered at room temperature, for 8-12 hours to firm up. Turn the marshmallows from the pan onto a piece of parchment paper dusted iwth confectioner's sugar. Cut into squares. In a double boiler, heat butter and chocolate and stir until smooth. Dip marshmallows to coat half-way with chocolate, allowing excess to drip off, then roll in graham cracker crumbs. Return to parchment paper to cool.



Ginger-Molasses Cupcakes w/ Candied Ginger Frosting
2/3 cup molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 tspn ground ginger
1 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn baking soda
2 cups flour
1 cup milk
1 Tbspn lemon juice
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cups or so of confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup candied ginger, divided
One thumb sized piece of fresh ginger root, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat molasses, sugar, shortening, ginger, and cinnamon to boiling, stirring constantly. Cool to lukewarm. Sift soda and flour together in large bowl. Combine milk and lemon juice, then eggs, in a small bowl. Add flour and egg mixtures, alternately, to molasses mixture. Bake in 16 paper cupcake liners in cupcake tins for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Place 1/4 cup candied ginger and confectioners sugar in food processor and pulse until ginger is broken down and incorporated into sugar. Beat butter in a mixer on high speed until it lightens in color, then reduce speed to low and begin adding sugar/ginger until consistency is just a bit thicker than frosting. Squeeze juice from grated ginger into frosting as you continue beating, increasing the speed. Frost cupcakes.



Gingerbread Walnut Rum Balls
30 gingersnaps, ground in a food processor (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 Tbspn unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for rolling
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
4-6 Tbspn honey
4-6 Tbspn rum

Combine gingersnaps, cocoa, sugar and walnuts in a large bowl. Add all but 1 Tbspn each of honey and rum, stirring until the mixture is evenly moistened and still slightly sticky, but holds together when you squeeze a bit in your hand. (If mixture is too dry, add remaining honey and/or rum). With slightly damp hands, shape mixture into walnut sized balls, then roll in confectioner's sugar. Store in an airtight container between layers of parchment paper for up to 3 weeks. The longer they store, the better the flavor.



Pineapple Squares
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/3 tspn salt
1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, drained
Confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar in an electric mixter for two minutes on high speed. Mix in eggs. Add dry ingredients, except confectioner's sugar, and mix. Drain pineapple by pressing the top of the open can agains the pineapple while draining the juice. Add pineapple to the batter and stire with a spoon until blended. Pour batter into a greasd, 9x13 inch baking dish, and bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool. Cut into 24 bars. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.



Grandpa John's Peanut Brittle
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanuts
1 Tbpsn butter
1/2 tspn baking soda
Pinch of salt

Boil the sugar, water and corn syrup in a saucepan until they reach 245-250 degrees F (hard ball). Add peanuts and continue heating to 300 degrees F, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter, baking soda and salt and stir well. Pour onto a well greased or silicon-mat lined baking sheet, spreading as thin as possible. When cooled, cut or break into pieces.

Tequila, Tacos, and Apples to Apples

Tonight we got to enjoy an evening over at FP & JJ's place. Things started off with an impromptu tequila tasting, since they have so many varieties and wanted to make sure we picked one we really liked. I went for FP's favorite, while Dan had a smokier one. They were all amazing, and gave us some serious perspective on Cuervo & Sauza.



Drinks in hand, we made our way to their back porch, which has an amazing view of the Portage Bay cut and University bridge. JJ cooked up some carne asada on the barbecue, and we all sat down to a dinner of really, really delicious tacos. (I knew they'd be putting my ground pork ones to shame.)



Knowing our love all things Hawaiian, FP picked up some taro mochi to snack on, which were sweet and delicate and so good. And for dessert #2, we had some watermelon, which Dan later noted may have won him over to watermelon, because he really liked it.



After a rousing game of Apples to Apples, we indulged in dessert #3: margarita cupcakes I brought.



I know I've already gushed about how happy I am to be hanging out with FP again, but I really can't say it enough.