Cupcakes

You all know I'm a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter. Combined is especially good! Mona - thanks for introducing me to My Sweet and Saucy.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake
Yield: 8 servings

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Peanut Butter Filling

4 ounces or 1/2 package of Philly cream cheese
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2+ tablespoons milk

1. Beat cream cheese and peanut butter until combined.
2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until combined.
3. Add the milk and beat until combined.

Note: This makes a pretty stiff mixture, like the center of a peanut butter cup. If you want something pipe-able, you could add more milk. I wanted to retain the strong peanut butter flavor, so I kept the milk to a minimum.

Chocolate Mousse Buttercream
Yield about 5 cups

6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 T. Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 t. vanilla extract

pinch of salt
6 sticks (24 0z)of cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
12 0z semisweet chocolate, melted

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and cocoa powder in the metal bowl of a stand mixer.

Fill a large sauté pan with hot water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Place the mixing bowl in the water and whisk the egg mixture constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is thick and fluffy and very hot, 3-4 minutes. The temperature should be between 120-140 degrees.

Remove the bowl from the water and using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs at a medium-high speed until they are tripled in volume and form very soft peaks. The bottom of the bowl should be completely cool to the touch, about 10 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and salt.

Switch to the paddle attachment on your mixer and turn to medium-high speed. Add the chucks of butter a couple at a time. Once all is added, turn the mixer on high speed and let it mix until the buttercream comes together and is shiny and smooth…don’t worry if it separates at first, it will come together!

Add the buttercream to another bowl (not metal…it is too cold and will seize the chocolate) and then add 1/2 of the warm chocolate and stir to incorporate. Add the remaining chocolate and stir to fully incorporate. Place the chocolate buttercream in a pastry bag fitted with a #807 tip and pipe your buttercream onto the cupcake. To get the swirl effect, simply start at one end of the cupcake and pipe in a circle. Continue piping until you have two layers of frosting. Stop squeezing the frosting and quickly pull tip away from cupcake.