Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting

It's birthday time for my niece again! She's the big 11 this year - how time flies!

Made some King Arthur GF Chocolate Cupcakes, then filled and topped them with this Fluffy Peanut Butter frosting recipe that I found on AllRecipes.com

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons milk, as needed

Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.
Note: I doubled the recipe and used about 3.5 cups of sugar, and no milk.

S'mores Cupcakes with Graham Cracker Buttercream

Who doesn't love s'mores??

My niece's 9th birthday was last month, but her party with her friends is tomorrow. She's having a make-your-own-pizza party - how fun!

I offered to make cupcakes for her party to give her mom a little break on the party planning. I had to find something that was gluten-free since she has Celiac Disease, and also nut-free since so many kids have nut allergies. I didn't want to risk something happening with that at all.

I offered her mom a few choices and this was her pick.

I tweaked the original recipe just a bit. I used a box of King Arthur Gluten-Free chocolate cake mix instead of making a from-scratch cake like the recipe called for, along with GF graham crackers. I'd probably do the same thing if I was making a regular cake. The box I used called for 1 1/3 cups of water (plus eggs and oil), but I used only 1/3 cup of water and 1 cup of sour cream. I think the sour cream adds nice moisture to a cake!

The below recipe is how I made it, and the original can be found here at Your Cup of Cake.

Ingredients

Chocolate Cakes:

2-layer box mix of chocolate cake plus ingredients on back minus 1 cup of water

1 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

Graham cracker crumbs (fine crumbs)

Marshmallow Cream Centers:

4 oz cream cheese

½ cup Fluff (marshmallow cream for you non New Englanders)

1 ½ - 2 cups powdered sugar

Graham Cracker Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

¾ cup graham cracker crumbs (fine crumbs)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons whipping cream or milk

mini marshmallows and chocolate for decoration

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 360 degrees and line cupcake pans with liners (24).
2. Mix cake mix, ingredients from back of the box and sour cream together in a mixer until fully combined.
3. Spoon ¾ teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Shake pan to spread evenly.
4. Fill liners ¾ full and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Mashmallow Cream Centers: Beat cream cheese, marshmallow cream and powdered sugar. Add more powdered sugar to taste. This mixture should not be thick like a buttercream, because it will be in the center of your cupcake.
6. When cupcakes are cooled, cut out a small area from the top of the cake and pipe marshmallow cream into each cupcake.
7. Graham Cracker Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and creamy. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and graham cracker crumbs. At this point, the buttercream will look like cookie dough. Add heavy cream a little bit at a time until buttercream consistency is reached.
8. Pipe onto cooled, marshmallow filled cupcakes and top with mini marshmallows and melted chocolate.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Cloud Frosting

My niece turned 9 last week and today we celebrated. She was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease when she was about 2 and I always try to make her something "normal" for her birthday.


She LOVES Nutella, so when I found this recipe, I had to try it!


The reviews: My mom thought the cake was a little bitter on its own, but with the frosting she thought it was good. Another guest said he thought it tasted fine. I also thought the taste was fine, but the texture was a bit tough. I've never really tried any of my niece's GF stuff, so I don't know if this is a normal texture or not. It wasn't anything terrible, just not light and fluffy like most cakes.


But the person who mattered most loved them. She ate 2 and I think she would have kept going if her dad had let her!


NOTE: I topped half of the cupcakes with Ferrero Rocher chocolates (chocolate with hazelnuts). These are NOT gluten free, so make sure you keep that in mind.

Cupcake Ingredients
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour mix (I used King Arthur's)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Cupcake Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
• In a large bowl, combine cocoa powder, flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla to dry ingredients. Mix until batter is smooth.
• Fill prepared baking cups 2/3 full. Bake around 20 minutes, until tops spring back when touched.

Frosting Ingredients (Makes enough to frost 12-15 cupcakes - double for above cupcakes)

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

1/3 cup Nutella

1 tablespoon milk

Frosting Directions

• In a large bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar for a minute until well combined. 
• Add vanilla and mix until combined. 
• Add the melted (and cooled) chocolate and beat on medium speed until frosting smooth. 
• Finally, add Nutella and beat until well combined. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Recipe from 52 Kitchen Adventures

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Dark Chocolate Truffle Center and Vanilla Bean Frosting

Found these for my dad's birthday. Added the truffle center that I saw in another cupcake recipe because I'm just that awesome!


This was my first time using a real vanilla bean for something. It has an amazing aroma and was pretty easy to use!

Ingredients

Cupcakes

1 box chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup stout beer

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup milk
1 vanilla bean

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, eggs, oil and beer with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
3. Bake about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cut an "X" in the top of the cupcakes and insert a truffle into the center. Cool 10 minutes; remove cupcakes from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4. In medium bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium-low speed until combined. Gradually beat in milk. Cut vanilla bean in half and scrape out seeds. Discard bean; add seeds to frosting. Beat on medium speed until fluffy. Pipe or spread frosting on cupcakes.

Original recipe from Betty Crocker.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes

Cinnamon Toast Crunch has been in my top 5 cereals for as long as I can remember. The other top choices (in no particular order): Honey Nut Cheerios, Golden Grahams, Frosted Flakes and Total Raisin Bran.


When I saw these cupcakes, I had to pick my jaw off the floor. One of my favorite cereals turned in to a cupcake (this woman also has a Golden Grahams cupcake that's on my list to try).


This is cupcake #3 for the 2nd Annual Cupcake Swap.

Ingredients

Cinnamon Cake:

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil

¾ cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup sour cream

Vanilla Cake Mix (not white cake mix)

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

(There used to be cereal pieces in the batter, but that has been removed due to comments saying it's better without it)

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup Cinnamon Toast Crunch powder

(Crush the cereal in a bag and then sift out 2/3 cup)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with 20-22 cupcake liners.

2. In a large bowl, gently combine eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla.

3. Mix in sour cream.

4. Add cake mix and cinnamon and mix until smooth.

5. Stir in lightly crushed cereal.

6. Fill cupcake liners ¾ full and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

7. Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add Cinnamon Toast Crunch powder. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Adjust the consistency using milk if it is too thick.

8. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with cinnamon sugar and Cinnamon Toast Crunch squares.

Copyright © YourCupofCake

Andes Mint Cupcakes

This is selection #2 for the 2nd Annual Cupcake Swap. Mint.... chocolate... what's not to love??

Ingredients

Chocolate Cakes:

1 cup sour cream

½ cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

¼ cup water

½ cup buttermilk

Devil’s Food Cake Mix

Chocolate Mint Filling:

1/3 cup chocolate chips

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

¼ cup powdered sugar

Mint Buttercream:

8 oz cream cheese

6 tablespoons butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

green food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans with paper liners.

2. Using a whisk, mix sour cream, oil and vanilla extract together. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well in between each addition.

3. Alternate adding the cake mix and liquids (buttermilk and water), starting and ending with the cake mix.

4. Fill liners 2/3 full and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until and inserted knife come out clean.

5. Chocolate Mint Filling: Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream together in the microwave or on the stovetop over medium heat. Stir in peppermint extract and powdered sugar.

6. When cupcake come out of the oven, use a squeeze bottle to fill the cupcake with the filling, or use the filling as a ganache and dip the tops of the cakes into it.

7. Mint Buttercream: Beat cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream and peppermint extract and beat well. Add green food coloring and stir well

8. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra Chocolate Mint Filling and an Andes Mint.

Copyright © YourCupofCake

Chocolate Lemon Cupcakes

Many moons ago, I worked at Dunkin Donuts. My favorite part was finishing and decorating the donuts. It was a chance to be creative in such a non-creative environment. One of my favorite "Manager's Specials" that I would make was the Chocolate Lemon donut. Picture a shell (the kind of donut you fill), filled with lemon custard and topped with chocolate frosting. It was a heavenly combination of sweet and tart all in one bite.


Tomorrow is the 2nd Annual Cupcake Swap for a group of my friends. This is one of the cupcakes I decided to make. Yeah.... I made 3... wanna make something of it??

Ingredients

Lemon Cake:

1 box White Cake Mix

4 egg whites

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup sour cream

zest of 3 lemons

Lemon Glaze:

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1-2 cups powdered sugar

Chocolate Buttercream:

1/2 cup butter, softened

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pans with cupcake liners.
2. In a small bowl, sift cake mix to remove any lumps.
3. In a large bowl, gently whisk egg whites, oil, buttermilk, lemon juice, sour cream and lemon zest together.
4. Combine wet ingredients with the cake mix and stir until well combined.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
6. Lemon Glaze: Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. The mixture should reach a consistency similar to tomato soup. (I can't think of anything else to liken it unto)
7. Spoon glaze over cupcakes that are nearly cooled and let the glaze set.
8. Buttercream: Beat butter and cream cheese for 2 minutes. Scrape down bowl and add vanilla and cocoa. Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
9. Pipe buttercream over glazed cupcakes and top with yellow sprinkles or lemon slices. (I topped with Lemon Sprinkles that Pampered Chef used to sell.)

Copyright © YourCupofCake

Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with Outrageously Rich Chocolate Indulgence Frosting

I saw these on Pinterest and I have GOT to try them!!! Munchkin 2's 2nd birthday is in a few weeks - I think that's the perfect time to try them out! I try to only put recipes I've made on here, but this one is too good to skip!

Brownie Batter Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
with Outrageously Rich Chocolate Indulgence Frosting

(Recipe from KevinAndAmanda.com)

BROWNIE BATTER

1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup milk
1 (18.25 oz) box devil’s food cake mix

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 mins until well combined. Using a small scoop (about 1.5 tbsp) drop batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze overnight.

CUPCAKES

1 (18.25 oz) box devil’s food cake mix
1 (3.9 oz) pkg Jello instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and line with cupcake liners. Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips into a very large bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 mins until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a large scoop (about 3 tbsp) drop batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 2/3rds full. Remove brownie batter from freezer and press into the cupcake batter. Bake for 22-28 mins. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING

5 sticks butter, softened
8 oz powdered sugar
1.5 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
a pinch of table salt
1.5 cups light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz milk chocolate chips

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring well every 30 seconds. Allow to cool for 5-10 mins. Combine butter, sugar, cocoa and salt in a food processor and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and process until just combined, about 5-10 seconds. Scrape the bowl again, then add the melted chocolate and pulse until smooth and creamy, about 10-15 seconds. You can use a mixer for this too, if you don’t have a food processor, just don’t whip the butter too much! :) 

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.

Makes & frosts 36 cupcakes.

Truffle Brownie Cups

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray with flour (see Cook's Tip)

1 2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided

2 tbsp butter (do not substitute margarine)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Assorted garnishes such as orange zest, maraschino cherries, toasted sliced almonds and whipped topping (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray cups of Mini-Muffin Pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour. Place 2/3 cup of the chocolate morsels and butter into a microwave safe mixing bowl. Microwave on HIGH 40–60 seconds or until smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Add sugar and egg to batter bowl; mix until blended. Add flour; mix just until flour is incorporated. Using two teaspoons, divide batter evenly among cups, filling cups about two-thirds full. Using Mini-Tart Shaper, gently tap batter to create level tops. Bake 10–12 minutes or until edges are set. (Do not overbake.)
2. Meanwhile, pour cream into a new microwave saw mixing bowl; microwave on HIGH 1–2 minutes or until hot. Pour remaining chocolate morsels in to hot cream; whisk until smooth. Place bowl into freezer 10–12 minutes or until mixture is cool and starting to thicken, stirring every 5 minutes. Spoon ganache into resealable plastic bag.
3. Remove pan from oven to cooling rack; cool 2 minutes. Press tops of brownies with Mini-Tart Shaper to make indentations. Cool in pan 3 minutes. Carefully remove brownies from pan. Trim corner of bag using a knife or scissors to allow ganache to flow through. Pipe ganache into brownie cups. Garnish as desired.

Cook's Tip: It’s best to use a nonstick cooking spray containing flour when baking these brownie cups. In a pinch, brush wells with melted butter, then sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa using the Flour/Sugar Shaker. Tap out excess cocoa.

Petite Chocolate Cherry Cheesecakes

Ingredients

24 bite-size, reduced fat double chocolate chip cookies 
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese 
1/4 cup granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg 
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream 
1/4 cup maraschino cherries (about 14 cherries), well drained, finely chopped 
2 tablespoons mini semisweet chocolate morsels

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Place paper liners in cups of Deluxe Mini Muffin Pan. Place one cookie in each liner.
2. In a small mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Add egg; mix well. Stir in sour cream.
3. Drain cherries on paper towels. Chop finely with knife and drain again on paper towels before stirring into batter. Using a small cookie scoop, top each cookie with rounded scoop of batter; spread evenly. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate morsels.
4. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until filling is almost set. Cool completely in pan. Remove cheesecakes from pan and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.

Yield: 24 mini cheesecakes

Jam Jiggers

This is a recipe my grandmother used to make when my father and aunt were little and they still rave about it. Below is exactly how I received the recipe from my Aunt Sue.

It's a family recipe that many people on my father's side make.

1. Make or buy pie dough.
2. Make yellow cake batter according to directions
3. Raspberry or strawberry jam (seedless raspberry is best)
4. Grease muffin tins
5. Roll out pie dough and cut circles to fit muffin tin cups with sides about 1/2-1/3 up. Bake dough for a few minutes until not quite done but not raw. Do not remove from muffin tin.
6. Drop spoonful of jam into each muffin cup.
7. Pour cake batter over jam, but be careful not to fill too much.
8. Bake cake until done.
9. Cool a few minutes before removing jam jiggers from muffin tin. 
10. Cool before eating as jam can get quite hot inside.

Deep Fried Truffle Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 3/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

9 eggs, separated

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Truffle:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup semisweet chocolate

1 tablespoon butter, room temperature

Peanut oil, for frying

Batter:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups rice flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

18 ounces beer

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

For the cupcakes:

1. Combine 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
2. Combine the egg yolks and water in a small bowl. Add to the dry ingredients in 3 stages, stirring until smooth. Add the melted butter and vanilla and stir until well incorporated.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar to soft peaks. Gently fold the whites into the cupcake batter, just until incorporated.
4. Divide the batter into a 12-cup baking tin and bake until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out dry, about 20 minutes.

For the truffles:

1. In a small saucepan add the cream and bring just to a boil over low heat. Put the chocolate into to a medium bowl and pour in the hot cream. Let stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the butter and mix until incorporated. 
2. Put plastic wrap directly on the surface of the chocolate and refrigerate for 1 hour. 
3. When the chocolate is cool, transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large tip.

For the batter:

1. In a deep-fryer or heavy-bottomed pot, heat enough peanut oil to come halfway up the sides of the pot, to 350°F.
2. Combine all the batter ingredients in a large bowl and stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.\
3. With a paring knife, remove the middle of the cupcakes, but leave the tops intact. Using the pastry bag, fill the holes with the chocolate. Replace the top firmly.
4. Coat the cupcakes in batter and deep-fry, in batches, until golden brown on all sides. Remove from the fryer and drain on paper towels for a few seconds. Transfer to a serving platter, then indulge.