Feb 28 2012
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
One of my favorite cakes to make for a special birthday involves a cheesecake layer between two cake layers then dripping the whole thing in chocolate ganache. For a friend’s October birthday, I used chocolate cake and pumpkin spice latte cheesecake; Greg is a peanut butter cup lover so his version has chocolate cake and a peanut butter cheesecake.
The thing about a cake like that is when you talk about it, people immediately want one. It just has too many mouth-watering components to not be excited about having a slice of your very own. The problem is, it’s time consuming to make and assemble all those pieces perfectly.
So, after taking about Greg’s peanut butter and chocolate version with some friends at work, I figured I’d make one for a co-worker’s birthday. Except, I’m a jerk and didn’t think about how in the world I was going to put one of these cakes together on a random Thursday night. Thus, the cupcake version was born. I often think of cupcakes as being more work than a layer cake because they have to be made individually but being able to make the ganache topping and mousse-like filling while the cakes were baking eliminated an extra round of baking and cooling and the filling and ganache were a snap to apply.
The result is something literally like a big peanut butter cup–the cake is moist and rich while the peanut butter filling adds a salty-sweet contrast and the ganache is just rich chocolately goodness. I actually had one of the interns at work ask me, “Did you have one of those cupcakes? It’s, like, the best cupcake I’ve ever had.” I think he was stunned when I replied “Thanks!”
Cake recipe adapted from Ina Garten's "Beatty's Chocolate Cake" from Barefoot Contessa At Home Cookbook.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cups cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with 24 cupcake wrappers.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined.
In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry.
In a measuring cup, combine the water and vinegar. With mixer still on low, add the water and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling about 3/4 of the way full, and bake for 18-23 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool completely on a cooling rack.
Beat the butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until well-combined and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract.
Beat in powdered sugar 1/3 of a cup at a time. Add enough sugar to get a creamy consistency that can be piped through a cake decorating tip.
Add filing to a pastry bag fitted with a large round decorating tip. Plunge the tip into the middle of each cupcake, about 1/2 inch to 1 inch deep and pipe in filling until cupcake is full. You should feel the outside of the cupcake puff a little.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the cream and bring to simmer. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips, stirring until all chips are completely melted and chocolate is smooth.
Allow the ganache to cool slightly until it it is a spreadable consistency. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons onto the top of each cupcake and spread across the top with a small spatula or knife.
Serve immediately or refrigerate up to one day.
These look delicious, I love chocolate and Peanut butter combo.