I am not a big fan of cupcakes.
I know. Gasp and all that. But here are the things I'd rather eat for dessert than a cupcake:
Pain au chocolat (preferably in Paris) |
Chocolate mousse pie a la Julia Child |
Chocolate chip cookies |
No-sugar apple crisp |
Chocolate souffle a la Julia Child |
Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies |
Blackberry and Pumpkin Pie |
Cupcakes just really aren't my thing. I'd rather eat a piece of cake. Is that weird?
Still, I know other people love cupcakes, and they make for a rather convenient birthday treat. When two of my coworkers had birthdays in the same week, I looked around the web (okay, Courtney's blog) for some inspiration and baked up some surprisingly delectable cupcakes.
I used the leftover cake batter and frosting to make a mini cake. |
Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Not my most beautiful frosting job, but I was pretty sleepy |
I started with Courtney's chocolate buttermilk cupcakes. Then, I wanted to make her peanut butter cream cheese frosting, but I didn't have the magical peanut butter cream cheese she mentioned in her recipe. So I copied her recipe but added 1/4 cup peanut butter. Viola!
- 1/4 cup butter
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups powdered sugar
Beat butter, peanut butter, and cream cheese until blended and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Beat in powdered sugar one cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
My mother-in-law said they taste exactly like a peanut butter cup!
Strawberry-Filled Cupcakes with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
I'm a just-a-little-bit-of-frosting gal, but you can certainly add more! |
For these guys, I made a basic yellow cake from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. (I always recommend using a homemade batter instead of a box!)
Filling Inspired by this recipe
- 1 cup strawberries, hulled
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor or blender until desired consistency. I added extra strawberries at the end to get some bigger chunks of fruit in there.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup strawberry filling (above)
- 3 cups powdered sugar
To fill the cupcakes, slice out the center of the cupcake and save half of what you remove. Pour all the filling into a plastic bag and snip off a small corner of the bag. Fill each cupcake, then replace the cake you removed. Top with the frosting and enjoy!
Cupcakes are near the bottom of my dessert-faves list too - give me a brownie or ice cream and I'm happy, but pass on the cupcakes...although the pink frosting you used does look delicious!
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only one! I would eat a brownie every night given the option. :-)
DeleteOK, I can put up you making my feel guilty EVERYDAY, but slamming cupcakes?? one of the great superfoods of all time, that's where I draw the line... :) ur favorite uncle
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'll make you a batch to show no hard feelings? :-)
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