Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

A classic combination. One of my favourites for sure! These cupcakes are a chocolate base, filled with a whipped peanut butter filling and topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream. Drizzled with melted chocolate and peanut butter to finish them off. 

For the Cupcake (makes 12):

Adapted from Annies Eats

1/4 cup cocoa powder 

1/4 cup hot (almost boiling) water

1 cup flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon baking Power 

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract 

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F and line cupcake tin with liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and hot water. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients. 

In a small saucepan combine butter and sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Transfer butter and sugar mixture to bowl and using an electric mixer (or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment) mix for 3-5 minutes until mixture cools and becomes pale yellow in colour. 

Add in eggs one at a time, mixing throughly between each addition. Mix in vanilla extract. 

Add the flour mixture in 2 batches alternating with the sour cream. Beat until just incorporated.

Fill cupcake liners 1/2-2/3s full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

For the Peanut Butter Filling: 

Adapted from Cook Like a Champion

1/4 cup heavy/whipping cream

1 cup icing sugar 

1/2 cup butter, room temperature 

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract 

In a clean bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, whip cream on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. 

In a separate bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and peanut butter, mixing on medium-high speak until smooth. Reduce speed and add in icing sugar. Mix in vanilla. Beat until fluffy. 

Using a rubber spatula, fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture in two parts. Do not over mix.

For the Icing:

1 cup butter

3-4 cups icing sugar 

3 teaspoons vanilla 

2 tablespoons heavy cream 

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla and cream.

To Assemble: 

Once cupcakes have cooled completely, use the cone method to fill cupcakes with approx 1-2 teaspoons of whipped peanut butter mixture. 

Frost cupcakes as desired. Drizzle with melted peanut butter and chocolate sauces. 

Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes

A friend requested Chocolate Turtle Cupcakes (like the candy) for his brother's birthday. I have been wanting to make something similar to this for a while. I love the combination of chocolate and caramel but the pecans add that extra layer of crunch to the cupcakes. The caramel pecan mixture alone is worth making, I had some extra which I plan on using on ice cream and pancakes (or eating by the spoonful).

Recipe: Adapted from Annie's Eats

Makes 12

For the Cupcake: 

1/4 cup cocoa powder 

1/4 cup hot (almost boiling) water

1 cup flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon baking Power 

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract 

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350F and line cupcake tin with liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and hot water. In another bowl, combine dry ingredients. 

In a small saucepan combine butter and sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Transfer butter and sugar mixture to bowl and using an electric mixer (or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment) mix for 3-5 minutes until mixture cools and becomes pale yellow in colour. 

Add in eggs one at a time, mixing throughly between each addition. Mix in vanilla extract. 

Add the flour mixture in 2 batches alternating with the sour cream. Beat until just incorporated.

Fill cupcake liners 1/2-2/3s full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

For the Caramel Filling Filling:

1 cup sugar 

5 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

1/2 cup heavy cream 

1/2 cup pecans

Heat sugar in a medium sized heavy bottom sauce pan on medium-high heat. When sugar starts melting, stir sugar until it is fully melted. Once melted, swirl sauce pan until sugar turns deep amber in colour (or reaches 350F on a candy thermometer). 

Stir in butter. Take caramel mixture off the heat and stir in cream. Mixture will bubble violently.

Finally stir in pecans. 

For the Icing:

1 cup butter

3-4 cups icing sugar 

3 teaspoons vanilla 

2 tablespoons heavy cream 

Beat butter until light and fluffy. Beat in icing sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla and cream.

To Assemble: 

Once cupcakes have cooled completely, use the cone method to fill cupcakes with approx 1-2 teaspoons of caramel pecan mixture. 

Frost cupcakes as desired. Top with extra pecan mixture and drizzle with caramel and chocolate sauces. 

Saying Thank You

These past couple of weeks have been super busy and full of stress and anxiety with events, studying for midterms and applying for summer internships. I am so grateful to all of my friends and family who have been there for me during these past few weeks.

I wanted to say Thank You to those who put up with me while I was sleep deprived and stressed and starting thinking about the best way to do that.

Thank You Notes - a simple thank you note can go a long way. It shows that you really appreciate the the person and the time that they took to help you.  I think hand written thank you notes are more sincere then an email because you actually have to take the time to put pen to paper.

Starbucks Gift Card - Show your appreciation for someones time by buying their coffee that day. Even a small amount can go a long way to brightening someones day and showing that you truly appreciate them.

Cookies/Baked Goods - If you are talented in the kitchen (or even if you aren't they have mixes now) its always nice to give homemade goods.  My friend recently lost her phone and had it returned to her by someone in their building. She brought them a plate a cookies as thanks and they were thrilled to receive them.  I find guys especially love receiving homemade baked goods.

Flowers - Flowers are a great way to say thanks. Its always nice to have a fresh bouquet and they are a great thank you to send to someone who might live further away.

What is your favourite way to say Thank You?

Jaclyn

Apple Pumpkin Bread

I have been wanting to make pumpkin bread for the longest time but I knew I should wait until Thanksgiving so I could use half of my 30oz can of pumpkin for pumpkin pie. Finally it was close enough to Thanksgiving that I could pull out the can of pumpkin I had sitting in my pantry for longer then I would like to admit. I was gathering all my ingredients when I glanced at this candle I had recently purchased from Bath and Body Works. I decided that it would be a good idea to incorporate some apples into my pumpkin bread because if they made a candle out of the two then hey it must be good right? Plus I have way more apples then I know what to do with since I went apple picking and you can only have so much apple pie. So off I went to the internet to find an apple pumpkin bread recipe. I found this one from Heather Homemade and liked the idea of the crunchy topping but decided to swap a few of the ingredients to really bring out the fall flavour. I am really happy with the way it turned out and it makes for a great breakfast or snack.  Oh and did I mention I made it all in one bowl. Yup! My kind of recipe!

I may have started eating this piece before I took the photo. Oops. 

Pumpkin Apple Bread

Adapted from Heather Homemade

 

For the Crunchy Sugar Topping

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened 

 

For the Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

4 large eggs

2 cups of pumpkin puree

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup of packed brown sugar

2 cups chopped apple ( I used a mix of the apples I picked)

 

For the topping, blend flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter in a small bowl with your finger tips, until mixture resembles coarse meal or sand. Set aside until ready to use.

Place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Heat to 350 degrees-F. Butter two 8.5 x 4.5 inch pans.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. 

Lightly beat in the eggs. Whisk in pumpkin, apple sauce and sugar. Stir until just well combined. Fold in the apples. Divide batter between prepared loaf pans. Sprinkle half of the topping evenly across each loaf.

Bake until a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Cool loaves in pans on rack for 45 minutes, then turn out on rack to cool completely, about 1 hour.

The bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and then foil, and stored in the refrigerator for up to a week, or the freezer for up to one month.

Honey, Honey

I love honey. I didn't always like it, but it defiantly grew on me and now I always buy local honey when possible (I think it tastes best). So I was super excited to learn that my work had an urban bee farm on its roof. I remember watching TV when I was younger and seeing people all dressed up in bee suits harvesting honey and I wondered what it would be like to have hundreds of bees swarming around you, unable to sting you. Well I got to experience it first hand and learn more about bees and the honey making process. 

I felt like an astronaut in my bee suit. Since we weren't harvesting any honey and just checking on the bees making sure they were okay and the queen was still alive they were pretty docile and didn't seem to mind having us there. There was no bee swarm like I had imagined. 

It was amazing to see all the bees working and seeing the honey comb at different stages. A lot of work sure goes into producing honey. Each hive was like its own little world. It was really cool to see and I cannot wait to one day try the honey that these bees produce. 

I of course went home and had some honey in my tea that night. Here are a few of my favourite recipes with honey. 

Honey Butter Cream on these Strawberry Lemon-aid Cupcakes

A generous drizzle of honey on some raspberry scones

What is your favourite way to enjoy honey? 

Jaclyn