Peanut butter cupcakes
Cookbook Challenge 2011: Fortnight 11
Theme: Cup
Recipe: Peanut butter cupcakes
From: Primrose Bakery Cupcakes
On to fortnight 11 of the Cookbook Challenge. With the theme being “cup” I pulled out one of my cupcake cookbooks to make peanut butter cupcakes. I had a lightbulb moment when I realised that not only do cupcakes fit the theme, but I could also top the peanut butter cupcakes with a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup. Genius! (Thank you, thank you.)
I haven’t done much baking lately. One reason is because one of my colleagues has gone on a diet. Sadness. Pre-diet, he would eat most of the baking that I take into work, but because it’s not cool to derail other people’s diets, I haven’t wanted to take in any temptations. Since the three of us at home can’t generally eat a whole cake or batch of cupcakes… no baking for us!
But when I realised I was catching up with some food bloggers this weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to offload some of my baking. I was so excited for these cupcakes – peanut butter cupcakes topped with a chocolate ganache icing – SWOONSWOONSWOON. The chocolate ganache was wonderful to work with. The recipe in the book uses cream, chocolate and butter, but since I never have cream in the house I just melted down chocolate and butter and it worked perfectly! After it cooled a bit, I was able to spread a spoonful on top of the cupcakes, smooth it out, and then place half of a mini Reese’s peanut butter cup on top .
What I should’ve remembered though, is: THIS COOKBOOK MAKES TERRIBLE CUPCAKES. π I used it last year to make pandan cupcakes and I said at the time: “Taste wise, I didnβt think that much of the cupcakes… I found these cupcakes a bit dry, and they werenβt as fluffy as I would have liked.”
I thought the exact same thing about these peanut butter ones. $#@%##$
Well. At least they looked good and I liked the peanut butter plus chocolate idea. If anyone would like to give them a try, the recipe is below.
(Who wants to take bets on whether I’ll forget all about this next year and bake another disappointing batch of cupcakes from this book!)
Other Cookbook Challenge posts can be found here and see what other participants made for this theme at the Cookbook Challenge forum.
Peanut butter cupcakes
From: Primrose Bakery Cupcakes
Makes 12
75g unsalted butter, softened
130g smooth peanut butter
190g dark soft brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
120g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
60ml milk
Preheat the oven to 160C and line a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcakes cases.
In a mixer, cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition, and then mix in the vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add a third of the flour to the butter mixture and mix on a low speed until combined. Pour in a third of the milk and mix again on a low speed until combined. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk has been added.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases to about 2/3rds full. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cooked.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When completely cool, top with chocolate icing (recipe below) and half a Reese’s mini peanut butter cup (if desired).
Chocolate icing
Note: I’ve halved the recipe that was in the book because you’ll only need this amount.
30g unsalted butter
150g good quality milk chocolate, broken into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Place the butter and chocolate into a heat proof bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water. Wait until all the butter and chocolate melts, stirring occasionally.
As soon as it’s all melted, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly before topping each cupcake with a spoon of icing. (If it’s too runny, let it cool for a bit longer. If it’s too cool and too thick, put it back on the heat to melt a bit.)
Johanna GGG
June 13, 2011 @ 4:06 pm
oh what a shame about the cupcakes – thought the peanut butter cup was a genius idea indeed for the cup theme – now I think you need to take a big texta and write a note to yourself on the cover of this cookbook – pretty cupcakes but taste crap – then you will remember – ha ha ha !
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:14 pm
Haha, that’s a good idea! They really do look so pretty in the book.
anh@anhsfoodblog
June 13, 2011 @ 4:21 pm
oh π Shame about the cupcakes. Sigh. At least the idea is good?
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:15 pm
Yeah, at least the idea was good. I’ll try again using a different recipe, I think!
leaf (the indolent cook)
June 13, 2011 @ 4:54 pm
Aww what a pity – they look so nice, too! Maybe you should lose this book. :p
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:15 pm
Haha, it might be time to give the book away. I have a replacement cupcake book coming – one that makes good cupcakes!
Sarah
June 13, 2011 @ 4:56 pm
Super-quick post!
Mmm… yum! I loved the icing! So swirly and shiny! π
xox Sarah
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:16 pm
The icing was so easy! I’m just going to melt chocolate and butter together to make ganache from now on π
Kayla @ Fitter Than Choc
June 13, 2011 @ 4:59 pm
I love the peanut butter and chocolate idea too. I think your cupcakes look gorgeous in the photo. If I hadn’t read your post, I’d have asked if I could lick the chocolate icing off:)
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:17 pm
Hehee, the icing was the good bit – so that would’ve been fine!
Fatbooo
June 13, 2011 @ 5:37 pm
Mmm peanut butterβ¦ I cannot imagine a cupcake with peanut butter tasting bad! The cookbook must have tweaked recipes to make sure you’re not as successful as the author. #CookbookFAIL
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:17 pm
Ooooh conspiracy theory! π Apparently the bakery is really popular with several celebrity endorsements – so there might be something in that idea.
penny aka jeroxie
June 13, 2011 @ 8:48 pm
LOVELy! I am so in love with Reese. Had my fair share while I was in NY.
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:19 pm
I LOVE Reese’s. You can buy a 1.6kg bag of mini peanut butter cups from Costco…. we’re on to our second bag (!)
Gourmetgetaways
June 13, 2011 @ 10:26 pm
FAR OUT!!! Layer upon layer of deliciousness!!!
That looks amazing!!
Well done π
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:19 pm
Thanks π I was pleased with how they looked!
Judy @ Foodie Dreams
June 14, 2011 @ 11:21 am
They look awesome! Thanks for that, I’m always on the look-out for a good peanut butter cupcake recipe… Now to find some willing victims, oops I mean recipients, so I don’t expand exponentially side-ways when I eat them all.
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:20 pm
Good luck making them – hopefully yours will be more successful than mine π
Hannah
June 14, 2011 @ 2:21 pm
BFF psychic link! I just made cupcakes yesterday myself for the Cup theme. I’m determined to catch up on the Challenge, no matter how many weeks behind I am. π
Also, I think you already know my reaction to these cupcakes. DESIRE.
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:20 pm
You can have them. They sucked :p
Iron Chef Shellie
June 14, 2011 @ 10:51 pm
OMGIMSOMAKINGTHESE!!!!!!!!!!
mega drooooool!!
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:21 pm
Haha, good luck!
CateCanCook
June 15, 2011 @ 7:01 pm
My kids would die for these cupcakes!!!! They look great – well done!
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:22 pm
Thanks π
Adrian in Food Rehab
June 16, 2011 @ 1:22 pm
my oh my…so these are the infamous cupcakes. Love it!
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:23 pm
Yes, these were them. Sigh.
msihua
June 17, 2011 @ 12:05 am
Ooo… and I missed these π BOOOOOO
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:24 pm
Yep, no cupcakes for you! :p
Gourmetgetaways
June 19, 2011 @ 9:13 am
Oh dear, I keep coming back to these little babies, how delicious do they look???
You have really excelled yourself… How do you think they would go in the post???
Agnes
June 19, 2011 @ 10:26 pm
Hello again! :p Probably not so good in the post – think you’ll just have to make them sometime! π
lux
June 23, 2011 @ 5:49 am
wow! These cupcakes look delicious. I can’t wait to try them out at home. My family is going to love them.
Here is another great recipe I found: http://www.fourgreensteps.com/community/recipes/dessertsagoodies/peanut-butter-cup-cupcakes-
Hannah@ Bake Five!
June 23, 2011 @ 7:31 pm
Maybe the authors to this book should rename it as “Cupcake recipes: GO FIGURE”
but yeah, at least they look good! =]