Taste & Create: Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Fudge Frosting

Taste & Create is  blogging event I participate in on an (almost) monthly basis... my post a reliably a day or two late... which is a reflection on Life and its tendency to get in the way and my own, blogging laziness - the actual process of reading my partner's blog and planning what I'm going to make is a lot of fun! That's why I keep coming back... that, and I love getting the feedback from someone else trying out my recipes.

So, if you're reading this, and you're a blogger too - you should sign up! The people are really lovely and it's a lot of fun! Also - it forces a person to post at least once a month... encouragement some of us need more than others... *ahem*

This month I was paired with Carol of No Reason Needed... her blog is a combination of food, family and Life - it's a fun and interesting read!

I had planned to make her Chicken Tetrazzini with Crescent Rolls, but I was called into work that day and my mummy made the Tetrazzini sans crescent rolls for me... but I couldn't submit something I didn't make! That would be cheating!

...So I kept on reading... and eventually stumbled across Peanut Butter Cupcakes SOLD!!!

OM NOM NOM!!!

Now, I didn't have any chocolate to melt to make the ganache suggested by Carol's daughter Dakota, so I decided to create my own peanut butter fudge frosting... and wow. Just. Wow. I'll share the recipe for that with you guys too!

Back to the original recipe - I did my best to follow instructions! I did, however make only a third of the recipe which is four cupcakes! The perfect number for two people!

In my thirding - I misread the quantity of baking soda called for and accidentally put in the full amount... I've corrected this for my version down below though... and that is the only factor that spoils these rather delicious cupcakes! I'll be making them again for sure, and I think you should too!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes (small-ified but otherwise as Carol's daughter, Dakota specified... Mostly. Apart from where I didn't read the instructions...)

25g soft butter
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 egg (no, the original recipe doesn't call for three eggs... but have you ever tried to 1/3 an egg?!)
1/4 tsp vanilla
25g peanut butter

(Dakota says that if you're not using "all natural" peanut butter - decrease the full quantity of butter by 1 Tbsp (5g in the Kat-verison) and the sugar by 2 Tbsp. I remembered to decrease the sugar, but forgot to decrease the butter - there didn't seem to be any ill effect of my omission...?

1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1-3 Tbsp milk (according to how runny you feel cupcake batter should be...)

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix in the egg, vanilla and peanut butter until smooth. Or, at least a smooth a lumpy peanut butter gets.

Finally, sift in the dry ingredients and stir through with as much milk as you feel you need.

Spoon into four cupcake liners and bake at 180 degrees C for 10-15 minutes.

Frost the warm cakes with the peanut butter fudge frosting below, and sprinkle with 100's and 1000's for added fun.

Frosting:

25g butter
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp cocoa
1 tsp peanut butter

2 tsp cornflour
4 tsp icing sugar

Melt together the butter, water, cocoa and peanut butter.

Whisk in the sifted cornflour and icing sugar 1/2 at a time... you may need a little more/less icing sugar to reach a consistency that suits you.

Usually I say use no more than 1 part cornflour to 4 parts icing sugar - but the peanut butter is (really should be) quite sweet so the "extra" cornflour isn't really noticed overall.

This frosting retains its shine once set - so it's always looking its best!