Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

My dear friend Sarah over at Chomping the Big Apple is having a blogging event, and while I've been missing from most of those things lately, I had to give it a shot.


So what's this Cooking with Love thing even all about? We are to tell a love-related baking story, and blog the recipe on our site. Well, here you go, Sarah! Settle in with a big cup of coffee and a nice cupcake, I tend to write novels...

Everyone in life is blessed with some kind of good fortune. Maybe it's well-to-do parents. Maybe it's a dazzling voice. Maybe it's that perfect body where said person rarely goes to the gym and eats nonstop and still wears a perfect pert size 0 (hello Tinnie dear, I am referring to you here). In my life, my good fortune is my husband.

My husband has beautiful green eyes and a smart-ass smile. He twirls his wedding band around his finger when he's deep in thought. He has an obsession with all televised sports: when his teams are playing he will cheer yell and carry on like I've never seen before. And while he'd never admit to it, he has the most wicked sweet tooth I've ever seen. He bellows at me if I stir the pan while he's cooking, and he rubs his face whenever he grows tired, and he gives the best back scratches in the world.

My husband is smart, with the accurate answer whether it's a TV quiz show or questions about sports stats or where the stocks are going. He is our household's official bug executioner. He has a remarkable knack for fixing electronics, and he likes to tease me about my shoe collection. When we do the grocery shopping, he always sneaks away at some point and buys me flowers from the floral department. My husband is so good with my family. Often he is quite the goofball, the person who always makes me laugh and brings out my own sarcastic sense of humor. He also has a way of giving me a squeeze when he walks by me and a quick smile that makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the Midwest.

On one of our early dates he took me to one of his fraternity formals, and I remember afterwards sitting in a shady diner in KC at 3am, he in a nice suit and me barefoot in a slinky ice-blue number, laughing and digging into pancakes (and enjoying ourselves much more than we did at the stuffy formal). Even today, when I hear the doorknob turn in the evenings, my stomach does flip-flops and I make sure to quickly run my fingers through my hair.





My husband is tender and patient and kind. Always the level-headed one between us, he never gets overly excited or anxious. He never raises his voice. When everything else is chaos, he's like a deep breath of fresh air. Always calm and quiet yet earnest, my husband. That's just who he is.

I could go on and on and on, but people have other places to be. So let me just say that I'll always consider to be lucky because of him. And I pretty much don't deserve him, at all. He's the thing I'm blessed with in life, no doubt about it.

Now, to get back on topic: I mentioned his sweet tooth. Oh, but that man has quite the raging sweet tooth! Chocolate is a favorite, but if you want to really bring him to his knees: do a chocolate and peanut butter combo. That will get him every time, and so from early on in our relationship I have been making this flavor combination in every imaginable confection I can possibly bake.

In honor of that darling Husband-man: I made his absolute favorite, a peanut butter and chocolate dream. These suckers come from Ina Garten (a cookbook that Hubs, incidentally, bought me for my last birthday). The cupcake itself is deep, richly cocoa with a soft crumb, and the creamy peanut butter frosting tastes just like the inside of a Reeses Peanut Butter cup. 'Perfection', as my husband would refer to them.

Happy (late) anniversary, Sarah!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
(from Barefoot Contessa at Home, 2006)



Ingredients:
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 c. buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 c. sour cream, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. brewed coffee
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows
Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.


Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.



Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:


Ingredients:
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 c. creamy peanut butter
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 tsp.pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/3 c. heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred; and more Meme!

I've tagged this as a blogging event, and as much play time as it's gotten on foodie blogs, it might was well be! This "Quiz of Foods" originated from Very Good Taste.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

Without further ado...



The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison (duh - the Hubs is a hunter; this stuff rocks)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (from some chain Outback Steakhouse-type place, but still)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht (Russian food at its finest!)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle (teeny bits on a pasta dish count, right?)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (LOVE)
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (cigarette instead of cigar is okay, yeah?)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (Jello shots! Who didn't have one in college??)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut, while still hot
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (dirty gin martinis are the only true martini, darling)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (Canada's version of heart-attack-on-a-plate; quite addicting)
60. Carob chips (blech)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (this is that stinky fruit; no way man)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (I had an author from Norway; somehow we got in the conversation of this caramel-y cheese and I was then his US soulmate. He still randomly sends me pictures of his hometown occasionally, that dear man)
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum (yum indeed!)
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef (small bit in tartar; that counts right?)
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I have tried 63 out of 100... what about you? Post the results on your blog, dear readers!


ALSO: dear Amy at Cape Cod Makeover tagged me for a Meme, so here goes that as well! I am supposed to post 6 facts about myself. Yay, I'm flattered Amy :) Here we go:


1. I love the smell of paint. Love love love the smell of it. It just smells fresh and new I guess. I was so happy when we first moved into our house after painting the entire thing; it smelled so good to me that first month or so.

2. My freshman year of high school, I was the Best Basket Weaver in 3 counties. (Seriously: I won 1st place in 3-dimensional art at the SEK High School Art Fair)

3. Today is my birthday :)

4. I know Don Gorske. Well, actually my parents and brother know him better (my brother and his son were great pals growing up). Still, I do know him! And will report that he truly is a wonderful, skinny, fit guy. His wife is a total doll, too.

5. The company I work for is in a building that used to be a Van Camp factory many many years ago. The Van Camp people put a time capsule in the wall, which we are opening this year. I am totally hoping that big canister is full of Beanee Weenee.

6. I have become an expert at manicure/pedicure/nail painting; in fact: I don't go to salons any more, because I do a better job myself. Totally in the wrong field of work, I tell you.



That's it! Have a great day dear readers! Here's a pic of my sous chef to tide you over until I post again (it's not a post without pictures, after all).



Beep beep! All dressed and ready to head to Nemmie's for a nice long visit :)

Lemon Baby Buttons

Every once in awhile, a magazine issue really impresses me, and I keep the whole thing around for future reference. The March 2008 issue of Food & Wine is one of those issues - I want to make the Meyer lemon gnocchi, the grilled ham (and chutney, apple, and cheddar) sandwiches, the beet salad, the pan-fried salmon... On and on. No joke. Hope you picked up this issue when it was on the stands, because there's lots to pull from it.

They also had a darling little article on Big Sugar Bakeshop (out of L.A., Calif.), with several recipes from the owner, Lisa Ritter. All look scrumptious, but it was the "Baby Button" cookies that really begged for me to make them today. They are buttery and soft yet crumbly, all around very light. Not too sweet (the bulk of your sweetness comes from that final roll in powdered sugar). I made some adjustments, added more vanilla and some lemon zest. Just perfect with a hot mug of coffee or tea.

While it wasn't the original intention of this post, I am posting this for the LiveStrong With A Taste Of Yellow blogging event. I feel like a very lame blogger, because this one was just totally off my radar until a reader brought it to my attention (thanks Nicole!). I'm glad she did: Cancer is a devastating disease that has affected everyone, in some way or another. I have had family members diagnosed (and thankfully in remission). I've had friends with family members with cancer, fellow students in school, coworkers.

A dear fellow editor had adrenal cancer, I felt quite close to him and was at a loss when I heard he was diagnosed. A year later I sat at a conference banquet and swelled with pride when he accepted a pretigous society award, telling the audience that while cancer was a terrible disease, he felt blessed to have cancer: it gave him a new outlook on life, a clear understanding of his personal strength, a deeper relationship with his loved ones, and a stronger faith in God.

John died from his cancer less than a year ago, after a long fight over several years. At the time I no longer worked directly with him, but his wife was kind enough to give me a call when the time was near, so I could get in touch. And even though it had been over 2 years since I worked with him, I must admit: I miss John quite a bit. So this ones for you, John, and for Barbara, and for my aunt, and everyone else affected by this disease. God bless.

Lemon Baby Buttons
(adapted from Food & Wine, March 2008)

Ingredients:

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar
1/2 c. cornstarch

1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners’ sugar until combined. Add the cornstarch, vanilla and flour and process until a soft dough forms. Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide it into 4 equal pieces.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll each piece of dough into a 12-inch rope. Cut each rope into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Transfer the balls to the baking sheet; they won’t spread much. Bake the cookies on the center rack of the oven for about 22 minutes, until the bottoms are golden but the tops are still pale.

Sift the remaining 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Add 12 warm cookies to the bowl at a time and toss to coat. Transfer the cookies to a clean baking sheet. While the cookies are still warm, poke 4 shallow holes into each one with a toothpick or skewer to make a buttonhole pattern. Let the cookies cool completely before serving or storing.

Death By Chocolate Event

The folks at Culinate are hosting a blogging event, Death by Chocolate. Check it out dear readers: there are 2 trips to Napa Valley as prizes, for readers as well as bloggers. I initially heard about this event through a group of online bloggers, but decided not to enter my blog. There are lots of fabulous blogs out there, with much more interesting recipes, better photos, and superior writing. So I was surprised to find out a few days ago that my blog had been nominated to enter the contest. Well, I'm not one to turn down something so lovely, so here we go.

I haven't been blogging long, so I thought it would be easy to find a past chocolatey-goodness post to enter. Heh. Apparently, I like chocolate more than I thought: there's several cookies that would fit the bill. The Bittersweet Chocolate Souffle with Earl Grey Sauce is impressive-sounding, but just not quite right. Chocolate tartlets? Truffles? Cupcakes? Nah, all are a bit too ordinary. I love my Spicy Chocolate Gingerbread, but the pictures didn't turn out too great (TOO BAD BECAUSE IT ROCKS).

I finally decided on Chocolate Cherry Cakes with Almond Buttercream. The photos are nice, the cakes are absolute chocolate-cherry heaven, and darn it - who can beat that Bonus Recipe at the end of the post, perfect to wash down those cakes?!? So go forth, dear readers, and pretty-please vote for me in the Death by Chocolate event (clicky click on the icon below). And thanks to the sweet person who nominated me! It means a ton just to be included with a lot of those fine blogging folks.