Peanut Butter Cup(cakes)

I've always maintained that the most genius combination of flavors ever discovered is peanut butter and chocolate. Some may call it unsophisticated - but I call it delicious! This last week, I was lucky enough to receive a little sis in my sorority, and lucky for me (and her), her favorite candy is Reese's peanut butter cups. What better project for me to undertake than to recreate it in cupcake form?

The peanut butter cupcake comes from a previous recipe I used from Martha Stewart, and it is just plain fantastic. It gets dry and crumbly if you bake it just a little too long, so make sure you bake them just until the top of the cupcake springs back to the touch. Also, be sure to use homogenized peanut butter (not the kind that has the oil separated on top) because otherwise it will separate in the batter too.

As for the frosting, I found a recipe for a dark chocolate ganache frosting that is absolutely divine. It hardens to a ganache texture when it cools because there is so much chocolate in it, so if you're looking for a soft creamy frosting this isn't it. However, it tastes like the inside of a truffle - and that on top of a peanut butter cupcake is hard to beat.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes
See my PB&J Cupcake post!

Chocolate Ganache Frosting
From How Sweet It Is


For ganache:

12 oz. milk or dark chocolate  (I can only use dark!)
1/2 cup heavy cream

4 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

For frosting:

1/2 cup butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions: In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate almost completely, stirring often. Remove from the heat and stir until fully melted.  Gradually add the heavy cream and stir to incorporate into the chocolate until smooth. Allow to cool to touch, about 30 min. When cooled, gently stir in softened butter 1 tbsp at a time.  Stir in vanilla.  

Allow to cool for a few hours. Whip butter in bowl of a stand mixer, then add chocolate ganache.  If it's too thick, slowly reheat in the microwave until it's smooth.  Slowly mix the two on low speed. Gradually add powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.